Taking A Risk
by Reese M
Summary: Jane and Maura are finally facing their feelings for each other, but will either of them risk what they already have to let the other know? Will it be to late if one is willing to take that risk? Set during the later half of season two.
1. Chapter 1

Everything was in black and white. Well almost everything. The scalpel was bright glowing silver and the blood; the blood was so red it almost seemed unreal. This wasn't the first time Jane Rizzoli relived her own personal hell, staring her own personal demon, in her nightmares. She'd been having them since her first encounter with evil, also known as the Surgeon, also known as Charles Hoyt. Night after night she would wake up with her heart pounding, gasping for air, her skin ice cold and layered in sweat that had soaked her sheets. As time passed Jane stopped going for her gun when she awoke in a fear induced panic, and slowly the nightmares faded, though they never went away completely. Every time Hoyt would resurface so would her dreams, like harbingers warning her of his pending presence in her life again.

But this nightmare was different. She wasn't seeing Hoyt in her bedroom holding a scalpel to her throat, she wasn't reliving him staking her to that basement floor by stabbing his scalpel through the palms of her hands, it wasn't about facing off with him in the woods, or the building she worked in, or in the street outside her apartment. This nightmare was different because it wasn't about her. It was about Maura.

Jane heard Maura cry out when Hoyt slashed her throat. Saw the tears soaking Maura's face. She could feel Maura's fear. Jane watched as Hoyt walked over to her best friend and jabbed that taser into her shoulder. From the corner of her minds eye she could see herself struggling with Mason who was holding her down, but all her focus was on Maura. Jane watched as Maura's body went ridged, her eyes rolling back, before falling backwards onto the hospital bed. She watched as Hoyt held her down, knowing that Maura couldn't move but was very much aware. Saw the way Maura's honey blonde hair fanned out around her head. She could see the silver scalpel press against Maura's neck, indenting it as the skin gave under the pressure before the blade broke through. Then the blood came. The blazing red blood that poured from the slash in her throat. Suddenly everything was that color. The black and white world of Jane's nightmare, just like the living color world of that moment, turned blood red. Jane fought harder then she'd ever fought before. She got Mason off her, she went for Hoyt, they struggled and this time Jane didn't hesitate. He'd hurt Maura. He'd frightened her, he'd threatened her, he hurt her, spilled her blood. Jane plunged that scalpel in the bastard's heart and felt no remorse.

You don't fuck with the person she loves and get away with it.

Jane bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. She wasn't feeling fear this time. The emotion that had rocketed her awake she didn't understand. With wide, panicked eyes Jane looked around while trying to calm herself down. She wasn't in her own room, or even in her own apartment for that matter, but she was someplace safe nonetheless. Well, safe from dead demons and crazy ass apprentices anyway. Not so safe when it came to the wave of emotion she'd just felt. She was in Maura's house, in Maura's bedroom, in Maura's bed. After they'd been released from the hospital after having their injuries tended to neither woman wanted to be out of the other's presence. They took comfort from each other; they offered safety and reassurance to each other. So they'd come back to Maura's house after Jane's surprise party and like so many nights before they'd crawled into the same bed together. Jane had curled on her side, facing Maura. Maura was laying on her back with one arm bent and tucked behind her head. The arm closest to Jane was flat on the bed between them and Jane had laid her hand on top of Maura's. It was a simple physical connection that allowed both women to relax enough to let their minds slow and their bodies rest.

Looking over to see if her sudden movements had disturbed Maura, Jane sighed softly in relief when she saw her best friend still sound asleep. Jane took a moment to watch Maura. Of course she loved her. Maura was her best friend. They were closer then Jane had ever been to anyone. But in that moment, when she saw Hoyt cutting Maura's neck, on the brink of killing her, it wasn't the kind of love you felt for a just a friend that surged through Jane. No, what fueled her to act in the moment, to save Maura's life with no concern for her own, that was the kind of love that you felt for the person you were meant to share your life with, the kind of love you had for the person you shared your soul with.

Easing out of bed as carefully as she could Jane tip toed across the room. Padding into the kitchen she let the cold of the tile floor shock her system while she pulled a bottle of beer, beer Maura kept stocked just for Jane, from the fridge. With beer in hand Jane walked over to the couch and plopped down. Jane sat there, sipping her beer, and for the first time instead of pushing her feelings into a little box that she kept deeply hidden, she let herself really look at them and think about them. Maura was someone special. She was the kind of person you meet once in a lifetime and if you're lucky it isn't just a passing encounter. If you're lucky, like Jane, you got to have this amazing person in your life permanently. Of course Jane had felt that way for a while. She'd always felt blessed to have Maura in her life. Now she wondered when exactly had it become more then just having the most amazing best friend she'd ever had.

Since she was hashing things out in her head she might as well admit for the first time, at least consciously, that she felt attracted to Maura too, that these weren't just emotional feelings but physical ones as well. Maura was a beautiful woman. Her eyes were an amazing mix of green, gold, and brown, the dominant color depending on what she was wearing and the shade of her hair. It was a color that Jane had yet to find anywhere else, a color that she would easily say was her favorite. Jane had seen pictures of Maura's hair straight and almost as dark as her own, and though it looked good on her, bringing out more of the browns and golds in her eyes, Jane preferred her hair the way it was now, soft, wavy, and a blonde that reminded Jane of the color of honey. This color brought out the green in Maura's eyes and Jane really liked the green in her eyes.

As Jane took a long draft from her beer her mind flashed to a case they'd had a while ago. Her memory was flooded with images of Maura in a black bustier trimmed in red and dotted with white spots, a black and white plaid mini skirt, black seam stockings, and a pair of designer heels that made her already gorgeous legs that much harder to look away from. Jane remembered turning her head at one point and getting a face full of cleavage that had made her swallow against a dry throat.

Suddenly Jane's beer wasn't cold enough. Getting up she poured what was left in the bottle down the drain, tossed the bottle in the right recycling bin, grabbed a cold beer, and downed nearly half of it before stopping to breathe.

Those were really inappropriate thoughts to have about your best friend. Besides, she was into guy, totally into guys. Over the last couple of years she'd had her fair share of men. There'd been Joey Grant, which never went anywhere. Jane had held tightly to a silly grade school grudge to keep him away, and then just when something could have happened he left. There'd been Casey Jones, nothing happened there either. He'd been a comfort to her at a really stressful time in her life, but his life in the army and hers as cop acted as a safety barrier that kept things from going past being friends. Then of course there'd been Gabriel Dean. He would pop up out of no where, ask her out, she'd say no and give some stupid reason for it, he'd look like a little boy who's puppy had been kicked, then he'd leave and a few weeks or months later the pattern would repeat. At this point she wasn't even sure if he really had a thing for her or if she'd simply become a challenge because she kept refusing him.

See, she liked men.

Lindsey Reed. Damn. Jane hadn't thought about her in years. Lindsey had been a fellow cadet that Jane had been close too, not as close as she was with Maura, no one had ever been as close to her as Maura is, but she and Lindsey had been friends and there had been times when Jane had wondered. Had Lindsey been flirting with her? Had she been flirting with Lindsey? Lindsey had been cute, and playful, and tougher then she looked. It had just been a girl crush. Right? She'd had girl crushes before; her very first crush was on Bernadette Ryan in the first grade, followed by Mrs. Miller in the fourth grade, Gina Angelo in seventh grade, Carmen Iglesias in ninth grade, Alexis Green senior year. Yeah, ok, there'd been quiet a few girl crushes, but she'd always dated guys. She went to the sixth grade dance with Michael Romero, she dated Carmen's brother Carmine in the eleventh grade, she'd gone to prom with Charlie Krenz, and yes there'd even been one or two guys she'd actually wore dresses for.

Ok maybe there was enough evidence to support the theory that Jane was about as consistently straight as a cooked spaghetti noodle. But she had never even acknowledged those kinds of feelings let alone acted on them, and to be honest she wasn't thinking of acting on them now. She just wanted to understand herself better when it came to Maura. Besides, Maura was straight. Maura had no issues with dating or spending the night with a man. Though Jane knew that emotionally Maura was even more guarded then she was. Maura could compartmentalize things in a way that allowed her to enjoy a man's company because he was smart, good looking, and physically able relieve her stress, reduce her blood pressure, and build up her immunity.

Jane smirked. She was actually retaining Maura's Google speak.

"Jane." Maura's sleepy voice cut through the stillness of the room. "What are you doing?"

"Drinking beer and killing all your high scores on Angry Birds on your iPad." Jane replied as she looked up to see a sleepy Maura padding towards her while tying the belt to her silk robe.

"It's three in the morning." Maura said as she settles beside Jane on the couch. "What's wrong? Nightmares?"

Jane smiled softly to reassure Maura. "Yeah but I'm fine. Guess I just needed to get one or two more out of my system, ya know, like a detox or something. Why are you awake?"

Maura thought about that for a moment and answered honestly. "I suddenly felt alone and woke up."

Jane frowned as she put her arm around her best friend's shoulder and pulled Maura close so the other woman's head was resting on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Maura said softly. The two fell into a comfortable silence as they sat together on Maura's couch. They each took comfort in simply being with the other, no words or actions were really needed. There were times when they could have whole conversations with their eyes, not a word spoken between them, and everything was said just as clearly. That's just how close they were. After several more peaceful moments Maura finally broke the silence. "Jane?"

"Hmm?" The slender dark haired woman beside her responded as Jane opened her eyes to look at Maura.

"Do you really like your birthday present?" Maura asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

The smile on Jane's face lit her dark eyes, which in turn made Maura smile. "Are you kidding? Racing school? Best present ever!"

That brought a warm sweet smile to Maura's face. She was a thoughtful person and always put a lot of consideration into picking out a gift for someone, but once the gift was bought and given she never really gave it another thought. But with Jane and her mother Maura worried about wither they truly liked what she'd picked out for them, and with Jane it was a little worse because their personal tastes were so different.

There were so many differences between her and Jane and yet she had never felt closer to anyone ever. Maura had never had a best friend before so it had been a little startling at first when she realized just how much Jane had come to mean to her. They got each other in ways that other people didn't. Jane had accepted Maura for Maura, quirks and all. She'd held out a hand to Maura and held on tightly as Maura crossed the bridge from the world she'd grown up in, and the safe world of academics and science, into the real world she lived in now. Jane had shown Maura, who'd always been friendly and pleasant but socially awkward and restrained, how to open up and embrace life and the people in it. With Jane Maura had experienced her greatest highs and lows. She'd felt the love and warmth of another human being in a way she never had before. She'd also felt safe and protected, wanted, cared about. Maura knew she mattered to Jane and that mattered to Maura. Yes her adoptive parents loved and adored her, but she'd never felt like the center of their worlds. She felt that with Jane.

All of her emotions were more intense when it came to Jane and that included fear. When she saw Hoyt grab Jane, as she watched his hand close around Jane's throat, Maura had felt a fear unlike any other. Sitting on that hospital bed watching that sick, twisted, evil man torment Jane, the tears that soaked her face weren't for her, they were for Jane. The fear was for Jane; the anger she felt was for herself because she was feeling helpless as she sat there watching the horrific scene play out. When Hoyt cut Jane's neck, when she saw the blood spill past the open skin, the scream Maura let out was a primal call of Jane I love!

It had been the most terrifying moment of Maura's life and the most enlightening as well. Not that moment in the prison infirmary, but months before that on the sidewalk in front of police headquarters. Maura had heard Jane's voice yelling shoot him from inside and her heart had slowed down. Bursting through the door Maura watched as if someone had hit the slow motion button as Jane maneuvered the gun Bobby Marino had been holding to her head, pushing it down, pressing it to her own stomach and then pulling the trigger. She watched the blood spray and for once her mind didn't crank out all the proper medical and forensic names and terms. For once her mind was quiet, her heart however was screaming. Jane! Or was she screaming out loud? "Jane!" The sound of her heels on the sidewalk was like thunder as Maura ran to Jane, carefully moving her away from Marino, her hands going to Jane's wounds. Jane's eyes, those big beautiful brown eyes, looked into Maura's for a moment, a flicker of a moment, as her blood seeped through Maura's fingers. In that moment before with her eyes locked with Jane's, before Jane passed out, Maura knew, she knew and accepted that she was in love with her best friend.

Of course Maura would never do anything about the way she felt. She would never jeopardize her friendship, the relationship she already had with Jane, by confessing that she was in love with her. Jane was Catholic, loyal to her family and their beliefs, and into men, though there'd been times when Maura had questioned the latter. Still, Maura would never put Jane in the position to question her beliefs and those of her family, a family that had taken Maura in without hesitation and made her one of their own. So in that moment with Hoyt, in that raw and primeval way, Maura had said what she'd wanted to say for months and Jane would never know it.

For Maura sex was sex. Yes, she enjoyed being with a man but there had been times in her life when she'd also enjoyed being with a woman. With the expectation of Ian Maura didn't attach much emotion to sex. She didn't treat sex as something casual either, but sex was sex. When she was with someone she liked, someone good looking and smart, someone she enjoyed spending time with, sex was fun, and healthy. She'd often wondered what it would be like to have sex when there were emotions involved, strong emotions, to feel tangled up in a person both physically and emotionally. What would it be like to have that with someone so meant to be, so meant for her, that she didn't know where she ended and Jane began.

Jane. Yes, she'd noticed making that distinction.

Maura thought back looking for the exact moment when things had changed. When had she gone from loving Jane to being in love with Jane? But it hadn't really been one moment in particular; it had just been a slow spontaneous progression, a natural evolution. Though Maura couldn't pin point the moment in which her feelings had changed for her best friend, she knew precisely when she wished she could have Jane in that way and it had shocked Maura. Maura had never really given a lot of thought about family and children, but soaking in that mud bath thinking about the way she and Jane had both reacted to Nurse Randi, both of them protecting that sweet innocent little boy, not only had she given it some real though, it had been the first and only time she'd allowed herself to wish for something more with Jane.

Jane's breathing was slow and deep. Maura smiled as she turned her head to find her friend sound asleep. Reaching up Maura carefully brushed a strand of hair from Jane's face, then she cuddle a little closer into Jane's side, and rested her head on Jane's shoulder. With Jane's arm around her Maura let herself drift off. That's how Angela found them the next morning when she'd come to make breakfast. She smiled warmly as she covered them with a blanket and then quietly set about making their meal. When the girls did wake up she made sure they took their medications, an antibiotic to ward off infects and a small dose pain reliever, which Jane grumbled about. She also grumbled about the forced time off and the fact that she'd have to talk to the department shrink yet again before she'd be allowed to come back to work.

"Jane." Maura began.

"Don't Jane me." Jane huffed.

Maura blinked and titled her head in that way that said she hadn't quite caught the sarcasm. "Then what am I suppose to call you?"

Jane looked at Maura with that 'really Maur?' look she had and then shook her head and rolled her eyes. Then she went back to complaining about what a huge waste of time seeing the shrink was going to be.

To be honest Maura wasn't looking forward to speaking with him either. Something about psychologists unnerved her. Maybe it was the too many unknowns they dealt with, to many variables in their kind of science. Or maybe it was her upper crust blood blue upbringing. Her mother was English after all and there had been that sense of having a stiff upper lip and one's personal feelings were not to be shared with strangers. Maura kept journals as faithfully as any scientist would keep a logbook. She wrote out and worked out her emotions in her journals, using words that were safely hidden away from prying eyes. Maura found comfort in words, she liked words; words were tangible and helped Maura make sense of the things in her life that weren't, like her feelings.

Jane was use to working the department shrink. This wasn't her first time sitting on his couch and hashing out the most recent traumatic event in her life. It wasn't even the first time she'd had to talk to him about Hoyt. But it was Maura's first time and she floundered a little as she and the therapist talked. It didn't help that Doctor DiPiero didn't seem to understand Maura's habit of over explaining everything. Finally Maura sighed as her frustration levels rose.

"You've explained what's happened to you scientifically, Doctor Isles, medically, but not emotionally." Doctor DiPiero said evenly. "What I'm asking you is how do you feel about what happened with Charles Hoyt."

"I'm a New England WASP, Doctor DiPiero." Maura finally said, her voice taking on that tone she used when Pike was around. "We don't talk about how we're feeling. This isn't a therapy session, Doctor. It's an evolution of my ability to do my job and what happened with Charles Hoyt has no bearing on that. If my ability to consult with Homicide is in question, it shouldn't be, I'm more then able to continue working with them as I have always done. If this is about my personal life, well, that's none of your concern since my personal life isn't effecting my job performance."

"You have a close personal relationship with Detective Rizzoli don't you?" DiPiero asked as if Maura hadn't just ranted at him.

"Yes, I do." Maura answered with a sigh. "She's my best friend. That relationship hasn't interfered with our ability to work together in the past nor will it in the future." Maura was quiet for a moment and then said, "Yes, the emotions I felt in that prison infirmary were personal ones, but Jane and I have talked, we've dealt with it. It won't get in the way of our jobs. Now, if that's all? My department is backed up and I have a young pregnant widow waiting for answers about why her young healthy husband won't be coming home from a routine medical procedure."

By the time Maura got out of DiPiero's office with the signed papers saying she could go back to work she was more then a little flustered. She could totally understand why Jane hated doing that. Finding Jane in the café with Angela, Maura slipped into the seat across from her and placed the papers on the table. "That was awful."

Jane smirked. "Told you."

"If I were feeling childish about this I wouldn't speak to Vincent for a week over this." Maura huffed softly as Angela poured her some coffee.

"What's Korsak got to do with this?" Jane asked.

"Apparently he convinced Lt. Cavanaugh who then convinced my superior that I needed to talk to someone about what happened." Maura explained. "Technically I'm a government official not a police officer, so I shouldn't have had to go through that, but Vincent…"

"Was just looking out for you." Angela said. "There's a lot of people around here who care about you sweetheart. We just wanted to make sure you and Janie were ok, that's all."

Maura looked up at her best friend's mother and sighed softly. She couldn't argue with that. "It was still very annoying."

Angela smiled and kissed the side of Maura's head. "I'll make you a cupcake special to make up for it."

"Hey!" Jane protested as Angela walked away. "How come I don't get special cupcakes when I have to see a shrink?"

"You'd get fat." Frankie teased as he joined them.

Maura smiled. No, she would risk this by seeking more from Jane. And Jane, she wouldn't risk it either, especially when Maura smiled like that. She couldn't take this way from her by telling her the truth. Things were good. No need to rock the boat. Right?

Right?


	2. Chapter 2

There was a small brown paper wrapped package sitting by Maura's door waiting for her as she walked across her courtyard and up to her front door after a long day working a rather frustrating case. Crouching down she couldn't help but smile when saw that the paper was stamped with several postmarks from several different remote and not so remote countries. That could mean only one thing. The package was from Ian. Standing up with the package in one hand while she used the other to unlock her door, Maura let her mind drift back to the last time she'd seen Ian. He'd popped up out of no where, like he always did, and they'd gone straight to what they did best, having sex. She and Ian had amazingly satisfying sex. There was also a connection between them, one that Maura had thought was love, but not she wasn't so sure. Yes there was attraction, a connection from their shared experiences, and she did generally care about him. Ok, yes, she'd loved him, she still did, but not in the same way she use too. She was no longer in love with him, no longer tethered to him in that adventurous, romantic, way she had been. Her heart belonged to someone else.

After dropping her things in their proper places Maura carried the little package over to the kitchen island counter and set it down. After getting her box cutter from the utility draw and unwrapping the brown paper from the box she opened it and smiled at the array of wild scents that assaulted her nose. Rare African teas were nestled in the box along with a beautiful clay teapot and a simple note. Opening the folded paper Maura had expected the normal, 'Saw this and thought of you' or 'Thought you might enjoy this.' notes that Ian sent along with his gifts. What she read caused her to slowly sink onto the bar stool with wide eyes. The note, in Ian's handwriting, said 'Marry me?' and named a hotel in Paris, a date, and a time. Maura was in shock. For the longest time Maura had wanted this, had waited on this, on him. And now here he was asking her to do what she'd longed for him to do. Here he was asking her to be with him just as she was longing to be with someone else.

"Maur!" Jane's voice carried through her closed door. "Ma says come to dinner!"

"Jane!" Angela's voice followed. "Don't yell! Go inside and get her!"

Maura couldn't keep the huge smile off her face as the sound of Jane's voice cut through the sudden fog in her mind. She quickly gathered Ian's gift, the folded note falling to the floor, and then headed towards her bedroom just before Jane came through the front door. As she was lifting the box to a shelf in her closest she heard something inside the teapot clink. Biting her lower lip Maura took the top off the teapot, her eyes widening, inside was a ring. An opal engagement ring, because Ian had told her once diamonds weren't special enough for her.

"Maura!" Jane called out. "I know you're home you're girly car is in the drive!"

Maura jumped and quickly put the top on the teapot and set the box towards the back of the shelf behind boxes of Jimmy Choos. "I'm in the bedroom Jane!" She called back. "And it's not a girly car." She continued knowing Jane was on her way into the room. "It's an eco-friendly hybrid hatchback that gets fifty miles to the gallon, has a 1.8-liter gas 98 horsepower engine and an electric engine that adds another 134 horsepower…"

"Why do you know this stuff?" Jane asked as she flopped down on Maura's bed.

Maura blinked as she stepped out of her closet with a change of clothes. "I know a lot of stuff Jane. You'll have to be more specific."

Jane smirked. Maura was a bottomless pit of useful and not so useful knowledge. She loved that. "The car stuff. Why do you know so much about cars?"

"I like cars." Maura said honestly, simply, and with a shrug of her shoulders.

Jane liked that about Maura. She could be so contradictive; the upper class debutant who liked to get down and dirty with a classic carburetor from time to time. When Maura stepped out of her bathroom in a pair of casual slacks while buttoning her blouse Jane's throat went dry. They'd seen each other mostly naked before but lately it was a little harder for Jane to not to let her eyes linger where a best friend's eyes shouldn't linger. Getting to her feet she said, "Come on, Ma's holding dinner for you and I'm starving. Where were you anyway? You left before I did."

"I had a meeting with my family's lawyer and the accountant about my trust fund." Maura answered honestly.

Brown eyes widened and then narrowed as Jane looked at her best friend. "You have a trust fund? Of course you have a trust fund." Jane rolled her eyes and shook her head. Contractions. Trust fund kid who drives a freaking Toyota Pirus when she could be cursing around town in a Ferrari, or a Lamborghini or a Porsche. Walking into the main room something caught Jane's eye. Ian's note. Though it wasn't signed she knew it was from him. Her heart stopped, her lungs refused to take in air. Marry him? A surge of emotion she wasn't comfortable with nearly made her ball up the piece of paper as every muscle in her body tensed up. Marry him! Jane didn't like Ian, and it wasn't just her cop's gut, or her concern for her best friend, she didn't like him because she was jealous of him. Yes, she could admit that now, now that she'd admitted to herself how she felt about Maura. Ian could give Maura things Jane couldn't, a life, a family, himself in that kind of romantic way she would never be able too. Hearing Maura coming down the hall Jane dropped the note to the floor. "Ma made gnocchi."

"Ooo, I have the perfect wine for that." Maura said as she went to her wine fridge.

"Of course you do." Jane said with a smirk though inside her heart was breaking and all she really wanted to do was stand there and beg Maura not to leave.

Maura had found the note on the floor later that night while feeding Bass and hoped that Jane hadn't seen it. She knew Ian caused Jane distress, though she thought it was because he was technically a criminal, and because he'd hurt her. Jane didn't like it when Maura was hurting. It was sweet. Over the next several days Maura analyzed and agonized over Ian's offer. Her life was here in Boston. She had a job she loved, that gave meaning to her life. She had friends here like Barry and Vince. And most importantly, she had the Rizzolis; she had Jane. But Ian was offering her adventure and a relationship that could in the long run give her more, a family of her own, marriage and children.

False identities, sneaking in and out of countries, always looking over her shoulder for the authorities, yeah, that accept of life with Ian had crossed her mind and it wasn't very appealing. Aside from the fact that she couldn't lie, which was a skill needed for the kinds of things Ian did, there was also the fact that she didn't want, no matter how good the cause, to do anything that remotely made her anything like her father, her biological father. She helped to catch the bad guys. She didn't want to become one. So the choice was obvious, right? So why was she actually considering it?

Jane could tell that Maura was distracted and she knew why. She wondered if she should say anything? Should she tell Maura she'd seen the note and let her know what her option was or should she just wait for Maura to come to her? Would Maura even come to her? Maura didn't talk about Ian; she'd said that it was to hard; it made her to sad to talk about Ian. But what if she lost Maura to Ian? What would her life be like without Maura in it? Jane really didn't want to find out the answer to that one. There was an easy way to fix this. She knew Ian would be in Paris, she knew when and where to find him. Some little bird could slip that information to Interpol. Which could get the little bird's world blown to hell because the little bird's best friend would never forgive her for that. Jane sighed.

"Did you spring a leak?" Korsak asked from his desk.

Jane looked up. "What?"

"You've sounded like a tire leaking air all day." Korsak replied. "You ok?"

"Yeah, fine." Jane said as she waved him off. "Don't you have work to do?" She asked as she suddenly stood up, grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair, and leaving the room. Downstairs in the lobby Jane watched through the café windows as Maura and her mother laughed and giggled. It meant a lot to Jane, the way her family, especially her Ma, had taken Maura in the way they had. It was just another reason on Jane's list. She wouldn't do anything to sour the relationship Maura had with her family and visa versa. Through her friendship with Maura her mother finally got the girly girl daughter she'd always wanted, and Maura got the helicopter mom she'd always wanted. Who was she to mess all that up?

"Oh Janie!" Angela said with the brightest smile. "Maura's asked me to go to the opera with her."

Jane couldn't help but smile just as brightly. "That's great, Ma. You love the opera. And now maybe she'll stop asking me."

"I haven't asked since you feel asleep during Pelléas et Mélisande." Maura said seriously. "You snored through the last three acts."

"Yeah well." Jane said a little sheepishly. Then she smirked. "I liked that Boston Pops thing you drug me to!"

Maura loved that smirk. "You liked that they played music from Star Wars and Bugs Bunny."

"I like Star Wars and Bugs Bunny." Jane replied with a simple shrug of her shoulders. "They played the music from the beef commercial too."

Now Maura knew where she'd picked up the habit. She'd never shrugged her shoulders like that until meeting Jane. She also picked up on the fact that Jane was tense, but she figured that was just because of work. She would have to think of something to help Jane relax, maybe a sporting event of some sort or a movie over the weekend. She was about to make the offer when her cell phone beeped. Checking the message she stood up to excuse herself, "These are the text results I've been waiting on. I'll see you tonight Angela. Bye Jane."

"Later Maura." Jane replied and then took the seat Maura had just left.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Angela asked her daughter after looking her over carefully.

"Hmm?" Jane replied as she looked up. "Oh, nothing, work, ya know."

"Yeah I know." Angela said as she looked into her daughter's dark eyes. "Spill it."

Jane looked a little defensive. "Spill what?"

"What's eatin' at ya." Angela replied.

"Nothing's eating at me, Ma." Jane said with some annoyance.

"Mmmhmm." Angela replied as she continued to stare her daughter down.

Jane snatched up her coffee and hopped off the seat. "I gotta go." She kissed Angela's cheek. "Have fun at the opera."

That weekend Maura and Jane opted to go to the movies. Since Maura was trying to help Jane relax she let her friend pick the movie, which meant they'd seen an action movie. It wasn't what Maura would have chosen to see but she was trying to help her friend relax so she sat through the gun battles and explosions and overall lack of plot because it was for Jane. After the movie they had dinner at one of Jane's favorite places, the one in South Boston that served 'Boston Baked Beans' in small ceramic pots, ribs as thick as a cubby baby's leg, and pieces of fried chicken that were not the natural size of a chicken. So many things in Maura's life had changed since meeting Jane, her diet was just one of them. After dinner they made their way over to the Dirty Robber, where most of their days and evenings came to an end, for drinks. Maura had gotten use to the less then stellar wine selection and even enjoyed a beer from time to time, it was just one more thing about her that Jane had changed about her and she kind of liked it.

Jane knew that Maura was trying to make her feel better, she just couldn't figure out why, though if she really thought about it she'd know that Maura had picked up on the funk she was in over finding Ian's note. Letting her pick the movie, dinner, and now sitting there across from her drinking from a bottle of Corona were all Maura's little ways of making Jane happy. It was one of many reasons Jane loved her. Jane wasn't the easiest person to take care of but Maura had managed to find little ways like this to do it. "Pool table's open." Jane said as she started to slide out of the booth. "Come on. I'll show you how to play."

"Really?" Maura asked with bright wide eyes.

That was another thing Jane loved. Maura was so enthusiastic about stuff, even something as mundane as learning to play pool. "Yeah, really, now come on before someone else grabs it."

Maura slid out of the booth and gracefully trotted after Jane who was making a b-line for the pool table. She watched as Jane collected all the balls from the pockets and then sorted them inside the triangle rack. Then she watched as Jane grabbed two pool cues and held one out to her.

"Ok, first off that is not a stick, it's a cue." Jane began and then went into a detailed explanation on how the game was played. Then she removed the rack and placed Maura at the end of the table. She showed her how to hold the cue, how to move it, and then smiled. "Go ahead and break."

"Me?" Maura asked with a blink of hazel eyes.

Jane chuckled. "Yes you. Go ahead."

Maura's smiled was huge and bright like an excited child's as she bent slightly at the waist and focused on the cluster of colorful balls. She slid the cue under her fingers and into the cue ball, sending it rolling over the green felt. It hit the cluster of balls with a decent clack, shattering a few, but none got even close to a pocket. "Oh shoot."

Jane smiled. How could a grown woman be so damn cute? "That wasn't bad for a first time." She reassured. "Since none went in it's my turn." Stepping up to the table she went for an easy shot, sending the two into the far left corner pocket. "Now, since I sank the two which is a solid colored ball that means for the rest of the game I'm going to be trying to sink all the solid colored balls. You're playing strips; you try to get all the striped balls in. We both try to avoid the black eight ball because it goes in last. If you sink it before the table is cleared you atomically loose. Good so far?"

"I think so." Maura said as she processed what Jane was saying while taking in the table, the balls, and figuring out the best angles and such to archive the best results.

Dark brown eyes narrowed as Jane watched. "Quit that."

"What?" Maura asked as she looked up at Jane with a curious look.

"Calculating angels and whatever other Dr. Smarty Pants thing you're doing." Jane teased.

Maura gave Jane a look that Jane described as her 'I'm too much of a lady to blow a raspberry at you but you get the picture' look. Jane smirked. After landing two more balls it was Maura's turn. Jane let her figure out where to stand and which shot to make, but as Maura was leaning over the table Jane found herself putting her hand on the small of Maura's back while she readjusted her stance a little. The heat from Jane's hand warmed Maura's whole body. She loved the way Jane touched her, it was casual, protective, supportive, even a little possessive at times, and Maura soaked in each touch like a sponge. If Jane ever stopped touching her like that she'd wither like a forgotten flower, she just knew it.

An hour later Jane stood looking at Maura in amazement. "Are you sure you've never played before? Did you just hustle me?"

Maura laughed. "I didn't hustle you Jane. Once you get use to it the math and physics behind the game are quite simple."

"You're a hustler and didn't even know it." Jane said with a shake of her head. "A natural pool shark."

"It is a rather enjoyable game." Maura mused as they put their cues away. "Maybe I'll buy one for the house. I could have a recreation room done in the basement."

"Rec room." Jane said as they returned to their booth and she motioned for two fresh bottles.

Maura raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what I said?"

Jane chuckled. "You don't say the whole word Maura, just rec."

"Oh." Maura said as she took in this tidbit of knowledge. "Ok."

"How are you at bowling?" Jane asked after taking a drink from her bottle.

"I don't know." Maura said honestly. "I've never played bowling."

Jane snorted, choking a little on her beer. "You don't play bowling, Maura. You play pool, you play basketball; you go bowling."

Maura titled her head in that way she had no idea drove Jane nuts because it was so damn cute. "Oh" She replied again in the same way she had a moment before. "Then I've never gone bowling before."

Jane smirked. "I'll take you."

Maura smiled brightly as she picked up her bottle. "I can't wait."


	3. Chapter 3

It had been an intense couple of days that started with Jane's brother kissing her. Maura liked Tommy, he was sweet and smart and funny, a lot like Jane. But she didn't like him in that way, unlike Jane. For that spilt second when he'd closed the distance between them in her kitchen that night after dinner Maura had wished it were Jane moving towards her, which is why it took her brain a second to long to stop him. Tommy's lips gently pressed to her own before she had a chance to stop him, to gently push him back. The hurt she'd seen in his eyes had tugged at her heart and in another place another time that scene might have played out differently. But there was only one Rizzoli Maura wanted to kiss, and that was Jane.

The secrets between her and Jane were starting to pile up. Maura still hadn't told Jane about Ian's proposal. She hadn't told her about Tommy kissing her, and then Barry's ex-fiancé slapped her with a Title Eighteen, which meant she couldn't tell Jane that Tommy was in trouble. It was no wonder Maura had been feeling ill. She always had a physical reaction to lying, and the more she withheld from Jane the sicker she felt. Helping Jane prove Tommy was innocent of helping in the bank robbery had helped, but she wouldn't feel completely better until she and Jane had made up. She really didn't like it when Jane was mad at her, especially this mad. The world just felt wrong when they were fighting and Maura wanted her world to be bright and sunny again. When she got the text from Jane that night about coming over Maura felt a sense of relief wash over her that nearly brought on another round of tears. She'd been crying a lot since their fight in the morgue, though no one knew it.

As soon as Maura walked into Jane's apartment that night both women said, "I'm sorry." At the same time which caused them both to smile. Then Maura said, "Jane, I should have told you, I really am sorry."

"No." Jane said with a shake of her head. "No, you're hands were tied, I know that. I was just freaking out about Tommy and I took it out on you. Hell, if you had told me and ended up arrested for it I'd a been pissed. It was an impossible situation and I'm sorry I took it out on you."

The tensions between them lowered a great deal but there were still things lingering between them that needed to be dealt with. Maura followed Jane towards her kitchen and took a seat on her barstool while Jane made dinner. They talked a little about this and that just to let the air between them settle before they tackled the next big issue. This time Jane started, talking about great romances, and it made Maura's heart ache. "If you wanna be with Tommy that's ok by me." Jane said, though it was tearing her up inside. Seeing Maura with anyone else was hard but seeing her with Tommy, when it was herself she wanted to see with Maura most, that would be hard as hell. Then again, she'd rather see Maura with Tommy then with Ian. At least if she were with Tommy she'd be in Boston, she'd still be in her life, even if she did spend the rest of hers envious of her brother.

"Jane." Maura said softly as she reached out to touch Jane's arm. "I like Tommy, a lot. But I love you."

Love. What kind of love? God how Jane wished Maura meant that the way she wanted her to mean it, and how Maura wished Jane knew just how true those words were. Maura didn't want to risk their friendship, and neither did Jane. Jane who took risks all the time couldn't bring herself to take this one, and Maura who was so good at reading Jane wouldn't let herself see the truth. So they fell into what felt easy and safe, teasing each other, focusing on the crap wine Maura had brought over. Then Maura smiled. It was that full on smile that gave her deep dimples and lit up her eyes like fireworks on the fourth. Jane loved that smile. It made her weak in the knees. She laid a hand on Maura's arm. "Maura I…"

Jane's phone began to ring. Damnit. She'd ignore it. Then Maura's phone started. Fuck. They both answered.

"Rizzoli."

"Isles."

God that was cute; and Jane was annoyed with herself for thinking so. Then listened, responded, and then grabbed their stuff to head out to a murder scene. At the door Jane grabbed Maura's arm. "Maura I…"

"I know Jane." Maura said softly, giving Jane that sweet look, the one that said I love you too, the one Jane didn't really get because as they left her building she wondered, do you, Maura? Do you really know?

The next several days were hectic to say the least. Three dead bodies in as many days and all were tied to the same person. The more they uncovered the less they actually knew. There were so many lies webbed around these people that Maura wondered if they would have known the truth in life if it smacked them in the face every morning. As she worked on the third body, a young man of twenty-three, she knew that what she could offer the case right now was the only real truth they had. DNA, cause of death, physical facts of the body, those things rarely if ever lied. As she worked she could feel Jane's gaze on her and for once it wasn't comforting. She'd been keeping something from Jane and to her that felt nearly as bad as lying so after giving Jane her findings, just as Jane was about to leave, Maura called out, "Jane."

"Hmm?" Jane replied as she turned to face her friend.

"Ian asked me to marry him." Maura blurted out.

Jane blinked. Of course she'd already known this so it wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was Maura finally admitting it and so out of the blue like this. Moving away from the door and a little closer to her friend she said, "He did?"

Maura nodded. "He sent me a gift and a note asking me to marry him."

The tightness in Jane's chest was alarming and for a moment she tried to remember what the symptoms for a female heart attack were. "Wow, Maura, I…" She was going to pretend she didn't know but she didn't want to lie. "I know. I saw the note. It was on your kitchen floor."

"Oh." Maura said softly. "You didn't say anything."

"I didn't know what to say." Jane admitted. "And I know how much it hurts you to talk about Ian so I didn't want to ask."

"Oh." Maura repeated.

There was a long moment of silence as both women gnawed over this new information. Maura wasn't sure if she should be angry with Jane for not speaking up, for putting her through the stress of worrying about telling her. Jane was scared to death of Maura's decision. If Maura choose to accept would Jane finally speak up about how she felt or would she love Maura enough to let her go? Finally Jane couldn't take it and asked, "Are you?"

"Am I what?" Maura asked as she looked into Jane's eyes.

"Are you going to marry him?" Jane asked and then held her breath.

Maura shook her head. "No." She answered, surprising herself since she hadn't really even given it much thought. She'd been to focused on keeping it from Jane then about what she would actually do. "I have a life here, Jane. I'm not ready to give that up."

Jane tried not to smile but her lips did twitch a bit. "As long as you're happy Maura. That's what matters."

Was that relief she'd seen on Jane's face. "I'm sorry I've been keeping that from you."

"I know it isn't easy for you to talk about Ian." Jane repeated. "So it's ok. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I knew."

Jane was walking towards the door again when Maura called out, "Jane."

"Hmm?" Jane replied as she turned to look at her again.

I love you. I'd never leave you. "I am happy." Maura said out loud.

Jane smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."

For the first time since finding the note Jane felt like there was a huge weight off her shoulders. Knowing that Maura wasn't going to pick up and leave her for a life with Ian had given her a little bit of peace. Of course that good feeling wore off by the time she'd reached her desk upstairs in Homicide. How incredibly selfish of her to be happy about keeping Maura to herself when she wasn't willing or able to give Maura more, not that Maura wanted more from her. But it did feel a little like she was keeping Maura from having a life, the kind of life that included husbands and babies. Jane had snuck in to watch Maura as a kangaroo volunteer and the look on Maura's face while she held those babies was beautiful. Maura should have that. Some futuristic kid should have that. Who was she to keep that from happening?

Yet it would kill Jane to see Maura with someone else. It would kill the very best piece of herself and she knew it. "This is so fucked up."

"What is?" Korsak asked.

Jane jumped. She hadn't realized she'd said that out loud. "The case." She said quickly. "This case is just really fucked up."

Korsak nodded. "Yeah, it's givin' me a headache. People don't know the meaning of bein' honest anymore, not even to themselves."

Jane snorted. Wasn't that the truth?

"The strongest people I know are also the most honest." Korsak continued. "Like you and the Doc. You two kids get it. You two have a lot of integrity kids your age don't have these day."

If this were a cartoon there would be a huge sole of a shoe with the word heel written across it sitting in Jane's chair. Yeah, a lot of integrity she had. She couldn't even tell the one person who meant the most to her in this world how she felt. Yeah, she was a heel all right.

Jane spent the next several hours staring at the case board looking for what it was they were missing. Something, anything, that would help but nothing came to her. Day four, a fourth body, a connection, a summer camp that all the victims went too, but Jane still felt that something was missing. Downstairs in the morgue Maura had the same feeling. Sitting behind her desk writing her notes on the fourth victim's autopsy Maura looking for the little piece of the puzzle that she knew was there, but where? The small desk clock behind her chimed softly, once, twice, three times, again and again until it sounded off a full twelve chimes. Twelve o'clock. Maura's eyes went wide.

"There's a pattern." Maura said as she walked into the bullpen. Walking up to the case board she picked up the yellow mark and wrote the numbers one through four in parenthesis under each victims' picture. "The first victim had a single stab wound to the heart. The second had two, the third had three and the fourth had four. The last stab wound is always the fatal one." Maura explained. Then she wrote times under the numbers starting with zero-one-hundred. "There's an hour between each victim's time of death. If the pattern holds out the next victim will be stabbed five times at five a.m."

"They're being killed by the hour." Jane said when she caught on. She gave Maura one hell of a smile. "That's good Maura. That's really good. That gives us seven hours before the next murder."

"So our killer has some weird hiccup about time or clocks or something?" Frost asked from his desk.

"It would appear that way Detective Frost." Maura replied.

"How'd you figure it out Doc?" Korsak asked. "I mean now that we see it it's plain as day but we all over looked it."

"The clock on my desk chimed." Maura answered honestly.

"Chimed." Jane said with that look on her face that said she was working something out in her head. "Or rang." She added as she looked over the map where they'd pinned markers where they'd found the victims. "Church bells ring on the hour." She smacked a finger down on the map. "There's an Episcopal church in the middle of the killing field. We start there."

It was a close call. Jane, Korsak and Frost hunted down leads and unweaved the web of lies in the field while Maura continued processing evidence in her labs. She was able to help even further by pinpointing where the victims had been killed, since they're bodies hadn't been killed where they were found. Down the street from the church there use to be an old ice cream parlor, which was now an empty lot. The kids from the summer camp, a camp run by the church, use to hang out there. Sitting behind her desk again Maura waited. The clock behind her began to chime. It was five a.m. would she be going another autopsy? The minutes passed by so slowly. Finally her phone rang. "Dr. Isles."

"We got him Maura." Jane's voice came over the line. "It was close. The victim's on his way to the ER, but we stopped him before he could kill him. Nice catch, Maur. We'll make a detective out of you yet."

The next evening after the suspect had been interviewed, all the paper work was finished, and the case handed to the D.A. with a nice little bow, Jane and Maura found themselves in Jane's apartment. Maura was sitting on Jane's couch with Jo Friday pressed up against her thigh, waiting for dinner and trying to not to fall asleep. Jane had asked her over to share her favorite victory meal. When Jane finally carried over two plates they were heaped with macaroni and cheese with bits of hot dogs in it. Then she carried over two glasses with something very blue and unnatural looking it them. "What is that?"

"Macdogs n' cheese." Jane said with a beaming smile.

"And in the glasses?" Maura asked looking uncertain.

"Blue raspberry lemonade Kool-Aid." Jane answered.

Maura blinked. "I've never had Kool-Aid before." Maura said while continuing to stare at their dinner.

Jane smirked. "It's good Maur. Just try it."

Maura picked up the glass and sniffed, making a face at the odd sweet scent.

"Its Kool-Aid Maura." Jane chuckled. "Not a fine wine. Just drink it."

She trusted Jane when it came to trying new things just as Jane trusted her. Though she didn't whine and complain as much as Jane did, for a moment she thought about doing so. Taking a small sip she crinkled her nose. "It's very sweet."

"It's pretty much sugar with a dash of fake color a hint of fake flavor and two quarts of water." Jane replied, still smirking. "We lived off that crap as kids. It's even better when you don't add the water. You just mix the Kool-Aide with sugar in a sandwich baggie and eat it like a pixie stink!"

Maura couldn't help but make a face at the thought of that.

Picking up their plates Jane handed one to Maura. "When I was a kid every time I'd win a game or something Ma would make this for me for lunch. I started making it myself after I left home."

Maura set her glass down, took the plate, and picked up her folk. As she poked at the pasta and processed meat she asked, "What are the green bits?"

"Broccoli." Jane answered before shoving a fork full into her mouth. "It comes in the box."

"Broccoli?" Maura repeated with some disbelief.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Just try it."

Maura tried it, and it wasn't to bad, but she was already thinking of ways to get Jane back for this. Snails, Maura thought. Yes, something with snails would be lovely.


	4. Chapter 4

Only Maura would be worried about damaging the eyes of a would be attacker. Jane couldn't help but roll her eyes as she tried to teach her prim and proper best friend some self-defense techniques. It was cute though, the way Maura worried about things like that, the way she threw a punch, and the bounce she had going on. A lot of things about Maura were cute to Jane; little things that would make her smile even on her worse days. The silly way Maura had gotten excited over the punch bowl and jello mold at her high school reunion. The way she looked when she tried to roll her eyes the way Jane did. Even the way she corrected Jane's grammar was cute, even if it did drive her insane. Jane tried to keep the cute, and she had to admit sexy way Maura looked in work out clothes, in mind when Maura asked about her dad. Jane still didn't like talking about her parents divorce. The only person she even let mention it was Maura, but lately she just didn't want to face it. She didn't want to face that her Pop could have a girlfriend, or that from across the room the way her mother looked at Korsak made her fill ill. She didn't want to admit that seeing her brothers enjoying a new girlfriend or meeting someone new gave her the urge to slap them upside the head. It wasn't that she was trying to keep them from enjoying life and finding someone, it was that it just irked her that she couldn't have what, who, she really wanted.

Thankfully she had her work to keep her busy, to keep her mind focused on other things, before she ended up saying or doing something stupid. For days after her reunion Jane would flinch every time she thought about how many times she'd touched Maura's breasts or rear end in the space of just a few hours. Until now she'd never really given any thought to the how much she touched Maura, or how not touching her left Jane feeling adrift and kind of lost. She realized that there had always been a lot of totally gratuitous touching, but lately that touching had become rather overtly gay. Seriously? Who cops a feel of their best friend's breasts in a gym full of former classmates? Who ideally runs their fingertips up and down their best friend's arm while they're watching a movie? Jane Rizzoli did, super badass cop who's to much of a coward to tell her best friend how she felt about her, that's who.

After the call came in about a new murder Jane and Maura changed clothes and headed over to scene. A new case would give Jane something to get lost in, something other then her newly acknowledged feelings for her best friend. After the murders of her classmates Jane had really wanted something she could detach from, so of course her new case would be a murdered mom. When Jane asked for something to keep her busy she hadn't meant for the universe to dump so much on her. Not only was she working the dance mom case with Frost but she was worried about Korsak and his son too. She needed to vent to talk things out so she'd headed for Maura's office, stopping when she saw the blonde with her former partner. Jane smiled as she watched. Maura cared about Korsak as much as she did and that meant a lot to Jane.

"Hey Maura." Jane said while she watched Maura eating her burger after the cases were closed.

"Hmm?" Maura replied as she picked up her napkin.

Jane smiled. "Thanks for helping out Korsak."

"Vincent is a good man, Jane." Maura replied. "I like him a lot and I would do whatever I can to help him, but all I did was point out the evidence."

Jane shook her head. "No you did a lot more then that. You were someone he could lean on without making it look like he was leaning you. You gave him a way to help his son. Ya know you underestimate yourself a lot. You're a pretty amazing person to have as friend."

Maura's smile was radiant. "Thank you, Jane."

She'd meant what she said about Vincent, she considered him a close friend, but Maura knew how much he meant to Jane so it was only natural that she'd want to help him for Jane. She'd been feeling kind of weird since Jane's reunion. She was starting to wonder if maybe she was seeing certain signals from Jane. Or did she just want to see them so badly that she was making them up? Shouldn't Jane have been more disappointed about Casey not returning from the Middle East? Had her touches become more intimate? Had that been a smirk on Jane's face when she touched her breasts? Twice? Maybe she was just seeing what she wanted to see. Jane had always been touchy feely with her, though she'd noticed she wasn't that way with anyone else. But Maura was starting to notice that Jane's touches were a little more daring, a little more familiar then they use to be. She had after all slapped Maura on the rear end a few times in a playful manner and that was certainly a very familiar way to touch someone.

Thought she was smiling on the outside while she continued to share dinner with Jane, she was sighing on the inside. She was being delusional. Jane wasn't in to her that way. And yet she couldn't stop thinking about it, about Jane. So much so that she was distracted at work, and that said a lot. It took a lot to knock Maura off her game and it used had to do with her emotions and her relationships with the living that distracted her from the dead.

"Are you alright darling?" Constance Isles asked her daughter a few weeks after the dance mom murder and the trouble with Korsak's son. "You seem preoccupied with something."

Her mother surprised her with a visit and it had been wonderful. Maura never did figure out what had caused this shift between them, what had made her mother more attentive, but she had a feeling it had been Jane. Maura had been beyond happy when her mother said she would love to see her work that morning. She'd been babbling like a little girl the whole way in and over coffee with Angela at the café. Then Jane walked in, she'd leaned into Maura reaching for something behind the counter. Jane's hand had been on the small of her back, her breasts pressing into Maura's shoulder, and it had sent Maura's mind wheeling. She was once again reexamining every touch between them looking for meanings that weren't there, or at least she didn't think they were there.

"No, I'm fine." Maura said as she shook herself from her thoughts and smiled at her mother.

"Believe it or not darling I know you better then that." The elder Isles said as she watched her daughter closely. "You've been lost in thought since we ran into Jane earlier. Is everything alright between you?"

"Between me and Jane?" Maura asked, her eyes a little wide. "Yes, of course. Everything between me and Jane is fine, Mom."

"Mmhm." Constance replied as she gave her daughter a look that said she wasn't buying it. "I know you can't lie Maura so I know that things are fine between you two but there is still something. What is it darling?"

"Isn't noting Mom." Maura repeated. "Jane and I are just fine."

Constance looked at her daughter for several seconds before asking, "Is this about your feelings for her?"

Maura's eyes went even wider as she stared at her mother in disbelief. "My… My feelings for her?"

"Yes dear." Constance said with a knowing smile. "Maura, darling, you've been in love with her for quite some time now." The look of surprise on Maura's face made her mother chuckle. "Do close your mouth darling. It isn't the right time of year to impersonate a jack-o-lantern."

"My… My feelings for Jane…" She cleared her throat as she tried to collect her thoughts. How did her mother? And why was she acting as if this was perfectly fine and ordinarily normal? "She's my best friend, Mother. Of course I love her."

"Are you concerned that Jane doesn't feel the same way?" Constance pushed, ignoring her daughter's attempt to bypass the conversation. "Because I don't think you should be. I'm fairly sure her feelings are the same."

"She's straight, Mother." Maura replied a little to quickly, a little to forcefully. Maura never snapped at her mother until now.

The fact that Maura had switched from Mom to Mother let Constance know that Maura was nervous and uneasy about this topic. Maura had never been the type to take risks, and she had a hard time expressing her true needs, wants, and desires. It had taken Jane to make Constance see what Maura couldn't ask of her herself. Now she felt that it was her turn to repay the favor. "Is she?" Constance asked. "Does it matter either way? The way she acts around you, the way she looks at you, the way you take top priory in her life; Maura, Jane loves you."

"She's my best friend." Maura said with a shake of her head. "Yes, of course we love each other and we look out for each other. That's what friends do."

"Yes." Constance agreed. "But there is so much more between you and Jane than that. I would certainly do a lot for my best friend but I'm fairly sure the only people I'd step in front of a gun for are you and your father."

"That's just who Jane is." Maura argued. "She's brave and honorable and would take a bullet for anyone."

"Well," Constance said. "I certainly know I would never confront my best friend's mother, a total stranger, the way Jane did."

Maura looked at her mother carefully as she asked. "What did Jane say to you?"

"She told me in no uncertain terms that she didn't like it that I'd hurt you." Constance began and then held up her hand to stop Maura from interrupting. "You're father and I did hurt you, Maura, and I'm grateful to Jane for confronting me about it. Not only did it help me to see that I needed to fix things between us, it showed me that someone loved you as much as I do."

"Mother." Maura protested.

But Constance cut her off. "Life can't always be safe and sensible, Maura. Sometimes it gets kind of topsy turvy. And sometimes you need to be brave and take a risk." Constance took her daughter's hands in her own. "Talk to her about the way you feel, Maura. Tell her."

"I can't." Maura said sadly as she dropped her head to hide the pain in her eyes.

Constance sighed. "Oh my darling." She titled Maura's head back up. "If you don't you'll regret it. You'll spend your whole life wondering what if. And that's not the kind of life I want for you."

Jane walked in to the kitchen of the guesthouse her mother was living in and over to the freezer. Grabbing a bag of frozen peas, which she wrapped in a clean cloth, she pressed it to the side of her face. She'd been running down a suspect who put up a fight when she caught him, leaving her with a bruised cheek and busted lip.

"You're never going find a husband if you keep coming home looking like that." Angela said with a shake of her head as she continued making dinner. "All bruised up with a puffy spilt lip. What's any respectable man suppose to think?"

"Don't really care what a respectable man would think, Ma." Jane replied as she snatched up a meatball before her mother could stop her.

Angela gave her daughter a hard look. "So you'd settle for a disrespectable man?"

"I'm not going to settle for any man, Ma." Jane replied.

A long, slow sigh passed from Angela's lips as she shook her head. "You're not getting any younger, Janie. You need to start putting some of your focus and attention on your personal future rather then your professional one. You need to start thinking about getting married, settling down, having babies."

Jane groaned and rolled her eyes. "Ma."

"Did you know that after thirty your fertility starts to go down?" Angela said, ignoring the tone of her daughter's voice. "Than after thirty-five even medical aides like IVF become less and less effective with each passing year? Plus, the risk of miscarriage and having a baby with Downs goes up. Women, who have babies naturally with no help, live longer but do you know how hard it is to have a baby at that age without help? Less then one percent, Janie, that's how many. And after forty you could be dealing with faulty eggs, which has a whole bunch of risks for you and the baby, if there's even a baby to be had."

Jane blinked as she listened to her mother and then suddenly laughed. "You really need to stop spending so much time with Maura. You're starting to Google-speak."

"Janie, I'm being serious here." Angela pleaded.

"So am I, Ma." Jane said. "I'm not doing the whole husband and babies thing."

Angela pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not, ok?" Jane replied. She was starting to get a little defensive. She was really tired of her mother, though she understood that her intentions were good, trying to marry her off.

"No, it's not ok." Angela argued. "You don't want to end up alone, Jane. You need someone to take care of you, someone you can take care of in return."

"I can take care of myself." Jane argued back. "And I have a dog to take care of. I don't need a man."

"You need love, Jane." Angela shot back. "You need a person to come home to, someone to share your life with, someone you know always has your back. Oh! I know! What about George Vaughn? He's cute, has a nice job, newly widowed. Or there's Chris Delgado, he just recently left the priesthood. Or Bobby…"

"I don't want a man, Ma!" Jane shouted as her mother rattled off names of single men. "I don't need to fall in love with anyone!"

"Why not Janie?" Angela pushed.

"Because I'm already in love with Maura!" Jane yelled back. Big brown eyes grew as wide as saucers as Jane's hands flew up to cover her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that out loud, ever! And especially not to her mother! The room grew quiet as Jane and Angela stared at each other. Jane's heart was pounding in her chest and she felt as if she might throw up. After several long seconds passed Jane finally let her hands drop and she whispered, "Say something Ma. Please."

Another few seconds passed before Angela finally smiled softly. "I didn't think you'd ever admit that."

Jane was in shock. That was not the response she was expecting. "Excuse me? What?"

"Janie." Angela said gently as she moved closer to her daughter. "You asked for bunk beds to build a fort because you wanted to be John Wayne. You tried to wear baseball cleats to your dance classes. And the entire time you were dating Carmine you were making eyes at his sister Carman."

"What are you saying Ma?" Jane asked in a soft, uncertain whisper.

"I think I've known for awhile." Angela answered. "And I didn't like it at first, I didn't want to believe it. That's why I pushed so hard ya know? Why I was always on you about picking a man to be with. But then I started watching you, Janie. I watched the way you were with the guys you dated and it was like watching you breaking in a new pair of boots. The boots look good but they don't fit right. Joey, Casey, Dean, well maybe not Dean, something about him gives me the creeps, but anyway, they looked good, they looked right on the outside, but they didn't fit." Angela smiled reassuringly at her little girl. "After I moved in here and started working at the café, I started watching you with Maura, and it hit me wither I wanted it to or not. Maura fits. Watching you with her it was like Cinderella finally finding her glass slipper."

"Shoe metaphors, Ma?" Jane asked her voice laced with the tears that were beginning to sting her eyes. "Seriously, you are spending way to much time with Maura."

"My point, Jane." Angela said firmly. "Is that when all is said and done, you're my daughter, my little girl; I love you. And the most important thing to me is that you're happy."

"But Ma." Jane said softly. "The Church…"

"Has its options and I have mine." Angela replied. "The God I have faith in, the God I brought you kids up to have faith in, wouldn't turn his back on one of his children for loving and being loved, and neither am I."

Jane jumped to her feet and threw her arms around her mother as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I love you, Ma."

Angela smiled as she held her little girl tightly in her arms. "I love you too."

Late that evening after Angela and Constance had returned to the guesthouse after spending the evening together with their girls, settled in to talk. "Did you get a chance to speak with Jane?" Constance asked.

"Yeap." Angela said with a smirk. "I had to push a bit but I finally got her to admit she's in love with Maura. Did you talk to Maura?"

Constance nodded. "You can't really push Maura, she doesn't quite get it, but I made sure to give her something to think about."

"Good." Angela said with a bright smile. "Because it's time our girls got to be happy and we both know that's only going to happen if they're together."


	5. Chapter 5

The pain was unlike anything Jane had ever felt before. It was like an emotional knife plunged deep into her heart. The way Maura had looked at her in that burned out warehouse, the way she'd pushed Jane away, was something Jane would always remember. The last few days had been an emotion storm for Jane. The reason she'd been in such a rush with Jo on the morning Dean showed up was because she was suppose to have breakfast with Maura and she'd just spent the entire night talking herself into telling Maura how she felt. With her mother's approval, and the fact that she was pretty sure Korsak already thought they were together, there wasn't any more fear about what the people she loved would think. She was going to tell Maura and then let the chips fall where they may. Then Dean showed up with pink roses. Maura knows she hates pink. Maura wouldn't have brought pink roses. His sudden reappearance had thrown her off and before she could get herself back into the right frame of mind she'd gotten the call about the warehouse fire. Jane's focus had been redirected to the case until the hit and run.

When she stepped off the elevator and saw Maura standing there looking so broken and lost it broke Jane's heart. Pulling Maura into her arms and holding her tight Jane wished she could make it all better somehow. For the first time in her life Jane wished for something girly, a magic fairy wand that would let her fix this. But she didn't have a magic wand, she couldn't turn back the clock, what she could do was find the bastard who'd hurt Constance, who'd tried to kill Maura, and make his sorry ass pay. That's why she hadn't said anything to anyone about Paddy Doyle when Maura told her he was in town. Maura needed protection while she worked the case and she knew Paddy would provide that. Looking back she should have tied Dean's sudden reappearance with Paddy's but she'd been arrogant enough to think that Dean had really come back because of her, not because he wanted information from her.

She should have seen it coming. The way Dean pretended to be concerned, the way he said he cared, the way he promised he was there for her and Maura because she cared about Maura. She should have known he was working her. When she'd told Maura she'd told Dean about Paddy there'd been a flash of something in Maura's hazel eyes that she hadn't understood until she'd seen the full blow emotion there in the warehouse. Betrayal. For as long as Jane had been close to Maura she'd known that Maura wanted a connection to her birth parents. So it shouldn't have been a surprise that when she'd found out about Paddy, even though it pulled her in two difference directions, that connection was something Maura couldn't ignore now that she'd found it. Maura didn't like the man Paddy was but he was still her father, he was still a part of her. It didn't help that Paddy loved Maura that he'd watched her growing up from a distance. It might have been different if Maura had felt unwanted and thrown away rather then sent away from her own good. You didn't have to like someone to love them when it came to family.

It all happened so fast. Flynn pulled a gun on Maura, Paddy shot Flynn, Dean shot Paddy; it was a fucking madhouse and when all was said and done, there was Maura crouching protectively over Paddy and looking up at Jane with such hurt, anger, betrayal, and just enough hate to twist the knife in Jane's heart. When the ambulances and back up cops showed up Jane lost track of Maura who refused to even look at her let along talk to her. Frost said Maura let Vince take her to the hospital so that's where Jane headed when she was finally allowed to leave the scene. Bursting through ER doors she ignored the gaggle of FBI agents who where kicking up a fuss over Doyle, who'd been rushed into surgery, and over to a nurse to ask about Maura. The nurse said Maura hadn't been there and Jane tried to force herself to remember if Maura had been hurt. No, no Maura had ducked and covered, she'd been fine. So she ran up to Constance's hospital room. Constance was asleep and there was no sign of Maura. Would Maura risk people finding out who she was by sticking close to Doyle? Turning to head for the elevators Jane found herself face to face with Agent Dean. Without thinking she hit him, hard, sending him staggering back. "What the fuck was that!" She demanded. "What the hell were you doing there!"

"Moving in on Patrick Doyle." Dean said as he rubbed his jaw with her good hand. He had a field dressing on his shoulder where Paddy had shot him, and Jane thought, good you deserve it, while she glared at him.

"You could have gotten her killed!" Jane yelled at him. "You fucked up our operation and could have gotten Maura killed!"

"Jane." Dean said as he took a step closer.

Jane took a step back. "No, do not come near me."

"Jane." Dean repeated.

There was such anger and hate in Jane's eyes that it caused Dean to move away. "You might have cost me the best thing to ever happen to me. The way she looked at me…" Jane's voice cracked and her body shuddered. "If I've lost her because of you I will make it my personal mission in life to make your life just as much of a living hell as mine will be without her!"

Dean blinked, genuine confusion on his face. "You're acting like you're in love with her or something."

"Yeah, I am, cause I do." Jane said without any hesitation.

She'd wanted to go with Patrick but she knew she couldn't. She knew the dangers that would involve so she had to step back, let the paramedics and police take over. She had to watch Agent Dean gloat through his own pain. Taking down Patrick Doyle was going to make his career, he was going to get any posting he wanted, the prime picks, and all it took was shooting her father. What was he even doing there? Had Jane told him about the set up? Had she invited him along because she knew Patrick would turn up? No, no they had no idea that Patrick would be there. But he was and he'd been shot, and one of the people who'd shot him was Jane. Maybe it wasn't rational, it wasn't like she was close to Patrick or even liked him all that much, but Maura was hurt and angry. Jane shot her father. She shot and could have killed the only person who could help her put that last missing piece of her puzzle in place.

Maura had been to upset to go to the hospital. She didn't want her mother to see her like this, so she'd had Vincent bring her home. She forced herself to take a shower. She needed to wash away the smell of smoke and ash from the warehouse and the blood from trying to tend to Patrick's wounds. Her mind was a cluttered mess. Jane shot her father. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him falling from that catwalk and it brought on a wave of nausea. Patrick had protected her and Jane shot him. The sound of his voice as he straggled for air hurt something inside Maura that she didn't understand. Hope? What did Patrick hope? Had he hoped for a relationship with her? Had he hoped to show her he wasn't as bad as she thought he was? Had he hoped to make up for being the man he was? Had he hoped that she would finally realize he loved her in a way that only a father could? What had Patrick Doyle hoped?

There was someone pounding on her front door. "Maura!" Jane's voice called out. "Come on Maura open the door! Please!" Jane was beating on her front door like the place was on fire or something, but Maura just continued sitting on her bed, back pressed against the headboard, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Damnit Maura I know you're home! Open the fucking door, Maura!"

If Maura weren't drowning in her own hurt she would have heard the tears in Jane's voice.

"Please Maura!" Jane yelled. Jane begged. "I'm sorry! Maura!"

She wondered why Jane just didn't use her key but then figured that Jane didn't want to push her by forcing herself on her. "Go away Jane." Maura said, though it wasn't loud enough to carry through the house. "Just go away."

It took Angela forcing Jane to stop and come into the guesthouse to get her to stop beating on Maura's door. Maura stayed in her room the rest of the night. When Angela knocked to check on her she asked her leave and was grateful that the older woman didn't push. Angela simple left a sandwich and a glass of milk of Maura's dresser, made sure Bass was taken care of, and then left. The next morning Maura called off and headed to the hospital to sit with her mother and check on Patrick. He was in ICU but he was alive. Everything that she'd felt yesterday had dulled into numbness today. She was pleasant and polite but nothing more. It was a good thing that her mother was still heavily sedated because Constance would have been able to see through her to the hurt and she'd have tried to help. Maura wasn't sure anyone could help.

"Maura." Jane whispered from the doorway.

Maura closed her eyes and sighed. "Go away Jane."

"I can't do that." Jane replied. "We need to talk."

"Go away Jane." Maura repeated.

Jane walked in and put her hand on Maura's shoulder. Maura went tense and then pulled away from Jane. She turned hurt and angry eyed on her friend. "Go away Jane!"

The look on her face and the sharpness of Maura's voice made Jane take a step back. "Maura."

Maura shook her head. "I can't, Jane, I just can't. Please go away."

"Not until I say this." Jane replied firmly and then pushed through what she wanted to say. " I didn't know Doyle would be there. I didn't know Dean would be there. After the first shots was fired everything went to hell. It was a firefight Maura and the only thing going through my head was you. You were in danger and my instincts kicked in. I'm sorry I shot Doyle, I am, if there's anyone else in the world just as willing to kill of be killed to protect you then me, it's him, but I'd did it to protect you, I'd do anything to keep you safe."

There were tears in Maura's eyes. "Are you finished?"

"Almost." Jane said, her own eyes stinging. "I'll fix this, us, I'll fix us, I'll make this up to you I promise. And I'm going to wait for you to work this out and I'll be there when you're ready. I promise that too."

"Now are you finished?" Maura asked. Jane nodded. "Then please leave."

Jane made it to the elevator before the tears came.

"Maura." Constance said hoarsely.

Maura sniffled, cleared her throat and then looked up. "Mom? You should be resting."

"She loves you." Constance said as she looked into her daughter's sad, hurt eyes.

Maura's voice cracked with emotion. "I know."

"No." Constance said, struggling to stay coherent with all the pain meds in her system. "She's in love with you, Maura. You are her heart and soul and she only wanted to protect you. Don't punish her for that."

Before she could leave the hospital Jane's phone rang. It was an ICU nurse saying he wanted to see her. It was a little surprising but she went. She ignored the looks she got from the posted FBI agents as she walked to up to the room and she glared back, daring them to try and stop her. She needed someone to take her emotions out on and it would be sickly satisfying to do it on a fucking fed. No one stopped her. Damn. Oh well, maybe next time Jane thought as she walked into the room and over to Paddy Doyle. He looked weak and pale and she found that unsettling. He'd always been a strong man, a man to be reckoned with, and this just didn't fit with her image of him. "I'm here Doyle. What do you want?"

Paddy Doyle forced his eyes open. He was still in critical condition and it could still go either way. He looked into Jane's eyes, his voice horse as he said, "Look after my little girl."

"I always have." Jane said. "I always will. Nothing's going to change that."

Doyle nodded and relaxed a little. "I love her."

"Yeah." Jane said. "Me too."

Doyle nodded again. He turned his head a little, as much as he could, to look at something on the nightstand, it was a bible with a set of rosary beads on top. "Inside, take it."

Jane walked over and carefully flipped through the book. Tucked inside was an old picture of a young woman. A young woman who looked a lot like Maura.

A flicker of a smile appeared on Doyle's face when he saw the picture. "Hope." He whispered and then gave in to the drugs and went under again.

Jane flipped the picture over. "Hope." She repeated.

It took time for Maura to process her emotions and the events of that day. Her mother had said Jane was in love with her. When she snuck in to see Patrick he'd told her not to blame Jane that Jane loved her, that she was only trying to protect her, and he was glad someone like Jane was there to watch her back. Maura didn't know what to do. Every time she thought about Jane she replayed that moment in her mind. Jane aimed her gun at Patrick, Patrick might have been aiming at her but maybe he would have dropped his gun, Jane didn't give him a chance, she fired. She shot her father without giving him a chance. Didn't she? What if she hadn't shot? What if Patrick had shot her instead? It was a firefight and things were happening so fast. If Jane had been shot Maura's world would have crumbled, left in ashes on the floor of that burned out building. Maura watched and rewatched the computer reenactment of what happened over and over again until she'd come to the only conclusion she could. Someone close to her was going to end up shot, either Patrick or Jane, and she wouldn't have been able bare it if it had been Jane.

"Where's Jane?" Maura asked as she walked into the Homicide office.

Korsak and Frost shared a look before Korsak answered, "She took some time off, Doc. She hasn't been here in a couple of days."

"Have you spoken to her?" Maura asked.

He shook his head. "No." Korsak admitted. "What happened really shook her up, Doc. I guess she just needed a little time and space to sort it out in her head."

Whenever a cop shot someone there was an investigation to make sure the shooting was good. During this time their weapon was taken and held by the CO. Maura knew this so when Frost said, "She was cleared by IB. It was a good shooting." He paused a moment, Maura had tensed up. "But she hasn't picked up her weapon."

"The way she looked at it." Korsak added. "She might not ever pick it up again."

Maura frowned at that. "She'd have too."

"Sure, if she stayed a cop." Korsak said.

Maura's heart sank. "I need to find Jane."

Jane wasn't at her apartment and Maura noticed that her overnight bag was missing and so where some of her clothes and personal things. When she questioned Angela, all the older woman said was that Jane said she'd been gone for a few days and had asked her to watch Jo Friday. Jane wasn't the type to run. She stood her ground, she made the hard choices and took the risks, so where the hell was she? She promised to be there when Maura was ready. Well she was ready and Jane was nowhere to be found.

Two days passed and Maura found herself pissed all over again. Well fine, if Jane was just going to take off while this huge chasm was between them, then so would Maura. She was just pulling her suitcases out into the living room when she heard the doorbell. Thinking it was the driver who'd be taking her to the airport she opened it without checking first. "Jane."

"Hi." Jane said carefully. "Can I come in?"

"Now's not a good time, Jane." Maura said angrily.

"Please." Jane begged.

Maura glared at Jane for several long seconds before finally stepping aside. "You'll have to be quick, Jane. I was just on my out."

"This is kind of important Maura." Jane said as she turned to face her best friend.

"I don't want to hear another apology, Jane." Maura said after closing the door and moving towards her desk.

"Ok." Jane replied. "I am though, sorry that is." When Maura gave her a heated look she let it drop. Maura looked tired, a little pale; and was she thinner? It was breaking Jane's heart. "Are you ok?"

"Fine, thank you." Maura replied. "What do you want Jane?"

"I saw Doyle." Jane explained. "When he first woke up he asked to see me."

Maura raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"He gave me this." She pulled the old picture from her pocket and held it out to Maura.

Maura took the picture and looked at it, her eyes going wide.

"Look at the back." Jane said softly.

Flipping the picture over she saw the word Hope and the year Maura was born written on it.

"Hope Todd was originally from Indiana." Jane began to explain as she pulled a large document sized envelope from her jacket pocket and held it out to Maura. "She was a freshman at John Carroll University at the same time Patrick Doyle was in Cleveland working with Danny Green."

Maura took the envelope and opened it. There were pictures and documents inside. "John Carroll, that's a Jesuit college just outside of Cleveland." Maura said softly.

"You're just as Catholic as I am biologically." Jane teased before going on with what she'd found out. "Not long after meeting Doyle Hope moved to Boston transferring from JCU to BCU." When Maura looked up at that Jane couldn't help but smile. Maura had gone to BCU. "She managed to finish her freshman year but took the first semester of her sophomore year off."

"My birthday is at the end of summer." Maura said softly.

"I know." Jane said with a gentle smile. Then she continued. "After she graduated from BCU she went to Johns Hopkins."

Hazel eyes went wide as Maura asked, "Is she…"

"A doctor?" Jane nodded. "Pretty well known in her field of women's health. She lives in D.C. now, but she spends a lot of time in New York."

Tears welled in Maura's eyes as she whispered. "Jane, you found my mother?"

Jane nodded. "I told you I'd make it up to you didn't I? And it has to mean something that Doyle asked me to be the one to bring her to you, right?"

"He doesn't blame you." Maura said.

"Do you?" Jane asked, the fear she felt clearly lacing her voice.

Maura looked up, she looked into Jane's eyes for a long time. "No. Not anymore. No. I never hated you, Jane. I could never hate you. But I was angry and hurt and felt betrayed. It didn't help that you weren't here when I was ready to talk like you said you would be, but now I understand why. So, no, no I'm not angry anymore."

The weight of the world was lifted from Jane's shoulders. Her lips curled into a smile, her eyes finally showed a flicker of light. She was about to say something, she was about to pour her heart out, but then she noticed Maura's luggage. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes." Maura said simply. "The plane leaves in a couple of hours."

"Oh." Jane said. A moment ago her heart was swelling and now it was deflating quickly. A thundering pain ripped through her when she realized what the date was. "You changed your mind then. You're going to go after the person you love after all." She nodded as if she agreed but it was killing her inside. She'd waited to long, made to may mistakes, and now Maura was about to fly to Paris, marry Ian, and live happily ever after. "He's out there, Maura. He's waiting for you. Go get the person you love."

Maura was about to reply when her phone rang. She was going to ignore but she couldn't. "That's the hospital Jane. My mother… I need…"

"Go ahead." Jane said simply. She waited until Maura stepped away to take the call and then quietly left. Tears ran down her cheeks the enter drive back to her apartment. Once safely inside she fell onto the couch and cried. She'd blown it. She'd lost Maura and it was her own damn fault for not telling her, for shooting Patrick Doyle, for taking what they had together for granted. She wished she were a big enough person to wish Maura and Ian well but she couldn't, all she could do was feel sorry for herself and mourn something she never had the chance to have.

This time the pounding was on Jane's door but it took her a second to realize it wasn't in her head. Between all of the crying and the half a dozen shots of Jack she was waiting for that part.

"Jane!" Maura called out. "Jane, open the door!"

Maura? Jane got to her feet and walked to the door but hesitated. She leaned forward, her forehead resting on the cool wood. Had that been real? Had she really heard Maura's voice or was she dreaming?

"I can see you're shadow." Maura said through the door. "Open the damn door, Jane."

Jane raised an eyebrow at that. It was so cute when Maura swore. Taking a step back she opened the door and found herself face to face with those beautiful hazel eyes she so often found herself drowning in.

For once in her life Maura was going to take a risk. For once in her life she was going to step up and demand what she wanted. She was going to ask for what she needed. "Jane you snuck out." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "No, shut up." She said when Jane was about to say something. She let her arms drop to her sides as she kept her gaze locked with Jane's. "You were right, Jane. I am going to go after the person I love, but I don't need to go anywhere to do that." She swallowed against a dry throat but she didn't falter, she didn't hastate, she didn't doubt what she was about to say. "Because the person I love is right here. The person I love Jane Rizzoli is you."

Jane stood there looking completely dumbstruck. She heard every word Maura said and more importantly she saw it in her eyes. Jane's heart was thundering in her chest, a drum beating out her happiness. Maura loved her! Oh, wait, she should probably tell Maura she loved her too, but her voice didn't seem to work.

Maura felt her heart swell and then start to deflate as she stood there staring at Jane, waiting for her to say something and preying it would be what she wanted to hear. As the seconds ticked by she started to think maybe she'd been wrong, maybe Jane didn't love her this way. She was about to open her mouth to backpedaled when Jane suddenly reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close, and before Maura had a chance to do anything, even blink, Jane's lips were on her own. Hazel eyes went wide in shock at Jane's kiss but then Maura melted into it. As Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's waist, Maura wrapped her arms around Jane's neck.

The kiss was passionate, emotional, and said everything the two women needed and wanted to say, everything they'd been holding back, everything they were afraid of, and only when their lungs burned for air did they pull apart.

Jane rested her forehead against Maura's. "You were leaving."

"To take my mother to a rehabilitation facility in Geneva." Maura said softly. "My father's meeting us there."

"Oh." Jane whispered. She was still holding onto Maura, refusing to let her go, afraid to let her go. "I thought…"

"Jane." Maura said softly as she made Jane look her in the eyes. "I sent Ian's ring back weeks ago. I told him no. I told him I loved someone else."

"Me?" Jane asked, her voice trembling.

Maura took Jane's face in her hands "You."

Then she kissed her again.


	6. Chapter 6

Standing at the arrivals gate at Logan Jane Rizzoli found herself nervously chewing on her thumbnail. She hadn't done that in a long time, but the old habit had resurfaced almost immediately after Maura left her apartment almost two weeks ago. Even though they talked everyday, emailed, and texted, neither of them had said a word about how they'd left things. Nine days ago Maura had shown up at her apartment and told Jane she was in love with her. Nine days ago Jane had pulled Maura close and kissed her. Nine days ago they'd been so caught up in the moment that if it weren't for Maura's need to get her mother to Switzerland they might have gone a lot further then some very passionate kisses. When Maura finally pulled away from Jane that evening she promised to be back as soon as she could so they could talk about all of this, about them. Jane promised to be at the airport to pick her up. So here she was, standing in the baggage area chewing her thumb sore waiting on Maura so they could start figuring things out.

"Jane." Maura scolded as she walked towards the taller woman. "You really shouldn't bite your nails like that. You could cause you're thumb to become sore and infected. Biting your nails tears them, which is damaging. Plus the germs, Jane."

Jane smiled at the sight of Maura and rolled her eyes at the little reprimand. Jane's smile got brighter when Maura smiled back at her, those beautiful hazel eyes bright and happy to see her in return. "I'll try and remember that."

"Good." Maura said primly before softening her voice. "Hi Jane."

"Hi Maura." Jane said a little awkwardly. Was she supposed to kiss her hello? Was she allowed to kiss her hello? It's not like Jane knew what they were exactly or where they stood. All they knew for certain was that they were in love with each other. Being in love with someone meant you got to kiss them hello at the airport right?

While Jane was busy thinking Maura was creeping a little closer. She smiled reassuringly at Jane before leaning in and kissing her gently. "Better?"

"Almost." Jane whispered before pulling Maura closer and giving her a proper, though still chaste, hello kiss. When she pulled away she smirked and said, "So I guess that means what happened in my living room really happened."

Maura smiled. "Yes Jane, it really happened." Maura paused for a moment and then added, "As long as you still want it to have happened."

Jane caressed Maura's cheek. "Of course I still want it to have happened."

The relief on Maura's face was unmistakable. She'd spent the whole plane ride worried that Jane would regret what had happened between them. It had taken a lot of courage on her part to finally tell Jane how she felt, to finally take that kind of risk, and even though she'd felt incredibly light and happy when she'd left Jane's apartment, she'd also felt as if a tiny little black cloud had been following her around. This little black cloud of doubt that nagged at her saying that when she got back everything would be different and messed up, that her actions would lead to the loss of her best friend.

"Where's your bags?" Jane asked softly.

"They should be coming." Maura said as they moved to the luggage carousel.

As they waited for Maura's luggage to appear Jane asked, "How's Constance?"

"Much happier being where she is now then she was in the hospital." Maura answered. "The facility she's in is more like a five star hotel then a medical facility. She has a long recovery ahead of her but she's making remarkable advancements already." Maura then proceeded to go into detail about her mother's condition. "I'm going back to see her when I can. You should come with me."

"I've got some time off." Jane said as she grabbed the Louis Vuitton luggage she knew was Maura's. She knew it was Maura's, not only because of the travel tag, but because someone, not saying it was her, had put little skull and cross bone charms on the handles the last time they'd gone on vacation together.

As they walked out towards the parking lot Maura asked, "How's Patrick?"

"Better." Jane answered. "He contracted an infection but they have it under control. Did you ask your parents about him?"

Maura nodded at the news of his medical condition. In a weird way this was kind of better. As long as he was in the hospital he was safe from being taken to a federal prison and there was a small piece of her that didn't want to see him in prison, despite knowing full well he deserved to be in one. Her emotions were conflicting when it came to her father, and for a long time she tried to deny even having feelings towards him, but she couldn't do that anymore, not after what happened in that warehouse. She shook her head at Jane's question. "I had other things on my mind. Besides, I didn't want to add any unneeded stress to Mother's recovery."

Jane nodded this time and then asked, "Hungry?" While putting Maura's luggage into the trunk of Maura's car, which she'd picked up from Maura's that morning.

"Yes, but I'd much rather have a shower and change first." Maura replied as she slid into the passenger seat.

Jane nodded as she started the annoyingly quite car. "How about I drop you off at the house and while you shower off the airplane ick I'll run to that Chinese place we like?"

Maura raised an amused brow at the 'airplane ick' and then said, "Sounds good." She paused a moment and then said, "But…"

"But?" Jane asked glancing over at the honey blonde. She had the sudden urge to take Maura's hand but stopped herself. She was sure about how she felt about Maura but so unsure about how to act around her, what actions were ok and which ones were pushing it. It was all kind of nice and kind of annoying at the same time.

"I just spent nine days with my father who is very," She paused to think. "Picky." Wasn't quiet the word but she went with it anyway. "When it comes to food." Jane was smirking and Maura found comfort in that simple expression.

"Are you trying to ask for something you shouldn't have?" Jane asked.

"Burger and fries from the Dirty Robber?" Maura said quickly and then bit her lip and smiled sweetly at Jane.

Jane laughed, she couldn't help it, the look on Maura's face was just too cute and the way she asked came across like a naughty child asking for something they were told no to. "You really must have been deprived in Switzerland."

"My father's decided being vegan is a worth while path to follow." Maura said with a shrug.

"Oh you poor thing. I'm so sorry." Jane teased. "Ok, one greasy burger it is for the doc whose dad eats from the same menu as her turtle."

"Tortoise." Maura corrected automatically.

After dropping Maura off Jane headed out to pick up their food. Alone in the car knowing that Maura was home safe and sound, Jane could finally admit that while Maura was gone her world felt empty. Sure she still had her family and friends and work, but something interregnal was missing and it left her feeling off center and out of focus. Now that Maura was home everything felt right again. And now that everything felt back on track she could focus on thinking about what comes next. She knew that they needed to talk, but Jane wasn't much of a talker. It was a little frightening to think about sitting down with Maura and opening up like that, despite the fact that Maura had always been the one she could open up too. This was different, this was about them, and this was far more real to Jane, far more special, then anything they'd talked about before. Now that the truth about how they felt was out there Jane had to be careful not to let it get away from her.

Maura felt the same way. While she stood under the hot shower spray she was sorting through her emotions and contemplating her actions. Being back in Jane's presence had made her feel better then she had in days and even though she'd known for awhile that she loved Jane, now she knew for sure that she needed her too. There was no question in Maura's mind that they belonged together and she was ready to put the work in to see that happen. They would do what they needed and go at a pace that was comfortable for them both. Stepping out of the shower Maura wrapped a towel around herself and then walked into her bedroom. Everything she chose from her closet was comfortable, but it was also something she knew Jane would enjoy seeing on her. A pair of grey slacks that accentuated her curves, a soft cardigan that brought out the green in her eyes, and a pair of her staying-in heels. After tying her damp curls up in a ponytail and going very minimalistic on her make-up, Maura went to her kitchen to pick out a bottle of wine.

"Don't you dare open that bottle." Jane's voice suddenly cut through the quite of Maura's home which caused the other woman to give off a startled little yelp.

"Jane!" Maura scolded. "Don't do that!"

Jane laughed. "Sorry, but seriously, don't open that. You don't have wine with greasy bar food." She set the bag of burgers and fries on the counter. "Grab a couple bottles of Sam Adams."

"I have several microbrews." Maura said as she put the wine back and grabbed the beer.

"Sam's fine for this." Jane said as she pulled out the styrofoam containers, filling the house with the smell of deep fried potatoes, onions, bacon, and steamed buns.

After putted the food on plates, because Maura wasn't about to have anyone eating this messy food in her t.v. area without plates, the two moved to the sofa. They sat close together like they always did, but now they realized that for years they'd been sitting a lot closer together then was necessary for just friends. Maura always enjoyed the warmth of Jane's body close to hers, and Jane liked being able to smell Maura's scent, a mix of her shampoo and perfume, with undertones of simply Maura. Actually Jane liked it better when Maura wasn't wearing perfume like now, it was just Maura freshly showered, and it nearly made Jane moan but she stopped herself.

Maura on the other hand didn't hold back a moan as she bit into her cheeseburger.

"Good there, Maur?" Jane teased and Maura simply nodded with a beautiful smile.

After their food was finished and things cleaned up the two found themselves sitting on Maura's sofa, cross-legged, and facing each other. They both knew that they needed to talk but either knew where to start or what to say, so they sat there looking at each other, eyes locked in soft gazes and heads titled slightly. It almost looked as if they were having a conversation as their faces twitched, their lips ticked into smiles or frowns, and their eyes closed, half-closed, and went wide, but not a single word had been spoken since they sat down. After what seemed like forever Maura finally reached out and took Jane's hands in her own. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Jane replied as she laced her fingers with Maura's.

There was another long stretch of silence between them before Maura spoke up again. "You're blood was seeping through my fingers while I was putting pressure on your bullet wound…"

Jane blinked at the sudden and unexpected statement. Cutting Maura off she said, "Huh?"

"That's when I first realized, when I first let myself admit, that I was in love with you." Maura said softly. "I was trying to keep you from bleeding to death and all of my medical knowledge took a back seat to one thought, one really loud thought. I'm in love with Jane Rizzoli."

"You've known that long?" Jane asked, her voice soft and more gravely then normal.

Maura nodded. "At first I thought maybe it was just because of the shock over everything, that it was one of those stress induced moments that brought people together because of the shared experience, but the feeling never went away. It was finally acknowledged and refused to be hidden away or lessened in any way."

"You never said anything." Jane said. "You never let on."

"I was afraid too." Maura replied. "You're my best friend, Jane. I didn't want to risk loosing you by putting you in a conflicting position with your family, your beliefs."

Jane chuckled softly. "Yeah, I kind of used that to keep my own feelings at bay. I mean, even I look at myself some times and think, 'Really? You're completely hardcore straight? Really Rizzoli?' but until recently I always answered back with yes, I'm Catholic for pete's sake."

"How recently?" Maura asked softly.

"Maybe not recently recently." Jane answered. She was quiet for so long that a flicker of panic and worry clouded Maura's eyes and that finally made Jane said, "When Hoyt attacked you something inside me broke free. That's why I was able to over power his apprentice and why I was finally able to put an end to him, not for me, not because of what he'd done or would do to me. He hurt you. That night," She paused a moment. "I did wake up from a nightmare but that's not what kept me awake. What kept me awake was me coming around to the fact that I'd fallen in love with my best friend and that it had happened a while ago."

"You never said anything." Maura said, repeating what Jane had just said moment eariler. "I never picked up on it."

Jane smiled softly. "For two people who pride themselves on being able to read each other, we missed those little tidbits by a mile easy."

Maura chuckled softly. "Selective sight I suppose. We were both so frightened by our own emotions we wouldn't allow ourselves to see them in the other."

"Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense." Jane sighed softly and gave a little nod of agreement. "I was scared of loosing you, of making you feel uncomfortable, of driving you…" She stopped.

"Into the arms of someone else?" Maura asked. "Into Ian's arms?"

"Yes." Jane answered. "The thought of you going off with the Wild Thornberry made me feel like I was covered in brambles."

"Wild Thornberry?" Mauara asked.

Jane laughed. "We're going to need to watch cartoons together one of these days."

Maura laughed, and then nodded her head in understanding. "I really don't like Lt. Col. Casey or Agent Dean; or Lt. Grant for that matter."

There was a flicker of something in Maura's eyes that made Jane smirk. "Are you the jealous type Maura?"

Pretty hazel eyes blinked while a head of honey blonde hair titled slightly in thought. "I don't know." Then Maura smirked. "But I would advise you against testing the theory."

Jane laughed again, which took the edge off the seriousness that had bubbled up around them as they talked. Feeling much more at ease now Jane said, "Ma knows."

Maura's eyes went wide with surprise and little fear. "She does?"

"Yeap." Jane replied. "Has for awhile. She's been telling me for weeks to say something to you."

The shock and surprise lingered on Maura's features until it slowly morphed into a quizzical and then an annoyed look.

"What?" Jane asked as she watched all of that play out on Maura's face.

"I think my Mother meddled." Maura said as she thought back to the last few conversations she'd had with her mother before the accident. "She called me in on it."

"Called you out on it." Jane corrected.

Maura simply nodded and filed away the correction for later use. "She told me before the accident that I should tell you, that I should take the risk."

"Where you?" Jane asked.

The blonde thought for a moment. "Yes. You?"

"I tried but couldn't do it." Jane admitted. "I'd talk myself into it and then chicken out as soon as you were close by. Then the warehouse happen and everything went to shit." Jane paused for a moment and then looked into Maura's eyes and said, "Maura, I'm…"

Maura let go of Jane's hand so she could press her fingers to Jane's lips. "Stop saying you're sorry, Jane. I've forgiven you, ok?" Jane nodded since Maura still had her fingers pressed to her lips. "You didn't know if he was going to fire at you, you had no choice but to fire first, I know that now, I understand. I was scared, Jane. Scared of the feelings I could make sense of and scared of the ones I couldn't. My thoughts were muddled, I didn't understand what was happening, or how I was feeling, so what I did was cling to the emotions that did make sense. It was safe to be angry with you because I knew you'd be there, I knew you would be waiting for me."

"I'll always be there for you Maura." Jane promised after moving Maura's fingers. "I promise."

"I know." Maura said with a loving smile. "I know because I know I'll always be there for you too."

Jane smiled a beautifully bright smile. She was glad that that was finally past them, and that they'd talked about the other traumatic events they'd gone through. It felt like they were working towards starting this relationship off on a clean page.

Once again the two fell into silence though this one was a lot more comfortable. They were sorting through everything that had been said, organizing thoughts and emotions. Without even thinking they shifted on the sofa until Maura was leaning against Jane's chest and Jane had her arms around Maura. Jane closed her eyes and let her senses take Maura in, the smell of her just washed hair, the warmth of her body, the press of her weight. This must be one of those perfect moments in time she'd heard people talk about.

The moment came to an abrupt end when Maura suddenly asked, "Jane, do you find me attractive?"

Dark eyes flew open as Jane asked, "What?"

"Do you find me sexually attractive Jane?" Maura asked as she titled her head so she could look up at Jane.

"Really Maura?" Jane asked. "We're going right from hashing out some pretty heavy emotional stuff to sex?" She could see it coming, a long explanation of hormones and brain chemicals, and the names of doctors who wrote this paper, or a college who did that study. Jane stopped the onslaught of information by leaning close and pressing her lips to Maura's. Once she felt Maura's surprise melt into willingness she deepened the kiss. When her lungs begged for fresh air Jane pulled away and looked into slightly darker then they were thirty seconds ago hazel eyes. "Yes, Maura. I find you very sexually attractive."

Maura was a bit lightheaded as she breathed out, "Good, that's good." As Maura's head cleared her ability to think returned. "It's important that there be sexual attraction in a healthy relationship. Early on it's about forging a bond but as the relationship progresses its important for maintaining that close…"

Jane was smirking as she pressed her fingers to Maura's lips. "So is that what we're in? A relationship?"

Maura flicked her eyes down towards Jane's fingers, a silent request for her to move them, and then she replied, "Yes. That is what all of this was about wasn't it? Working out the new perimeters, redefining our relationship from simply being best friends to being more."

"Yeah, it was." Jane agreed. Then her voice dropped to a whisper, "Maura, what if…"

"I don't like what ifs." Maura said quickly. She titled Jane's head up and held her face in her hands. "I love you Jane. Nothing's going to change that. I want more and I'm willing to do what I have to, to get it."

"I want more too." Jane admitted.

Maura smiled. "Good."

"So what next?" Jane asked softly.

She had to think a moment but then Maura said, "I think we should go out on a date."

"A date?" Jane said with a snort.

"Yes, a date." Maura said firmly.

Jane chuckled. "Ok, ok, we'll go on a date." Leaning in Jane pressed a soft kiss to Maura's lips. "I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

Because it had been her idea to go out on a date, Maura had insisted she be the one to plan it, and knowing Maura as well as Jane did meant that this date could be anything, anywhere. Which is why Jane's bedroom now looked like a hurricane had danced though it. She had no idea what to wear and that alone made her kind of grumpy. Jane had always cared about how she looked on a date but never this much. She wanted to pick just the right thing because this wasn't just some random date with some random guy; this was the first real date with the person she loved, her first date with Maura. Falling backwards onto her bed, which was covered in dresses, tops and slacks, Jane groaned. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move and she jumped. If she'd been near her gun she'd have pulled it, but the closest thing at hand was a high heel, which she held over her head until a furry head poked out from under a pile of rejected outfits. "Damn it, Jo."

"This is ridiculous." Jane huffed as she flopped back onto the bed beside her dog. "Maura and I have gone out together lots of times." She paused while Jo gave her cheek a tiny lick of reassurance. "But this isn't just hanging out with my best friend, it's a date, with my girlfriend." That brought a smile to Jane's face. Maura was her girlfriend. Jane laughed at how weird her life had become and yet it finally felt like it was on the right track. Until a few weeks ago she never would have pictured herself with a girlfriend. She'd been so deeply rooted in the closest search and rescue dogs wouldn't have been able to find her. Damn good thing Maura was an expert when it came to closets.

Getting to her feet Jane went back to her mission. She was just about to get really cranky when her phone chimed with a text message. It was from Maura and read simply, fun causal but not Jane casual. Jane casual? What the hell was that suppose to mean? Jane casual as opposed to what, Maura casual? Oh, well, yes there was a difference there. Jane bit her lip and looked at the pile of clothes on her bed as a second text came through. Jane raised an eyebrow and smirked. Something sexy? Ok, she could do causal sexy.

Maura had put a lot of thought into this date, too much thought actually. She'd tried to think of something they'd both enjoy but something they hadn't done before. That hadn't been easy because they did just about everything together. After doing a little research Maura finally decided on something that would hopefully be fun, something she'd always wanted to do, and she hoped Jane would enjoy too. At eight o'clock Maura knocked on Jane's door, biting her lip. When Jane opened the door she couldn't help but smile. Jane had on a pair of black leather pants, black-silver metallic draped halter-top, and a pair of heels that Maura had no idea she even owned. Her naturally curly long dark hair was done so that her curls were even bouncer and looked like spun silk as they cascaded over her shoulders. Maura didn't even hide the fact that she was letting her eyes slowly roam over Jane's body before finally meeting her date's dark, sparkling eyes. "You're gorgeous, Jane."

"Wow." Jane said in a whispered growl as she took in the tight black jeans and black and red laced tank top. Maura's hair was straight and a little darker then normal and she was wearing a pair of what Jane could only call come-fuck-me heels. It took several minutes for Maura's words to finally click and Jane blinked. "Huh? Oh. Thanks." She said with a sheepish smirk. "God Maura you look… Wow."

"You like it?" Maura asked as she looked down at her outfit. It wasn't something she would have normally worn but it seemed appropriate for what she had in mind.

"Like it?" Jane asked. "Maura, I can't think straight."

Maura smirked in a playful way as she said, "Jane, we're two women about to go out on a date. I don't want you thinking straight."

It took a moment for Jane to realize Maura had made a joke. A huge smile broke out on her face as she said, "Oh that was good."

A light blush colored Maura's cheeks as she smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

Jane nodded. She grabbed her handbag and locked up her apartment. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Maura said as she led Jane to the car.

"You rented a town car?" Jane asked as a driver opened the back door of a black sedan.

Maura smiled. "I plan on enjoying myself tonight and didn't want either of us worrying about driving."

Jane couldn't help but laugh as she climbed into the backseat. "Planning on getting drunk off your ass, Dr. Isles?"

"Maybe." Maura flirted. "Or maybe you're the one I plan on getting drunk."

The smirk on Jane's face made her eyes light up. "I think I like this new side of you, Maura."

Their first stop was a hot new sushi bar that had the kind of buzz to it that said it was the place to start a Friday night in Boston. It was the kind of place that screamed hot and sexy but in an upscale classy way. Though they were doing something they did often this time it was different. They sat closer together, the causal touches lingered a little longer, Maura's smile was flirtier, and Jane's gazes were no longer secretive. Jane didn't hide the fact that when Maura leaned in close to whisper something in her ear the warmth of her breath on her skin, the smell of her so close, made Jane's eyes flutter close and her breath hitch. Maura didn't turn her head to hide the fact that her eyes darkened when Jane slid her hand onto her thigh. There was a new air of freedom and excitement between them, and instead of clouding the ease they felt with each other it seemed to enhance it. Sure each woman was nervous, each had her insecurities and concerns, but they were building this new relationship on the foundation of a very solid friendship and that helped them embrace these new things and enjoy the moments.

Their second stop was one of the hottest dance clubs in Boston. As she stepped out of the car Jane looked up at the building, a line of people waiting to get in already starting and was already down the block and around the corner. "Really?"

Maura smiled, her hazel eyes sparkling, as she took Jane's hand. "Yes, really."

Jane's jaw dropped as Maura bypassed the line and walked right up to the bouncer. She leaned in close and whispered something to him. He smiled, gave her a nod, and then let them right in. "Ok," Jane said as they were given VIP passes. "What kind of clout does the M.E.'s office have that you just did that?"

"None." Maura said honestly. "I called and paid in advance."

"Go clubbing a lot do you?" Jane teased.

Maura shook her head. "First time." At the look Jane was giving her she explained, "Certain lessons from my upbringing are universal, knowing how to get into the best places is one of them."

Jane just smiled and shook her head as Maura led her to the VIP lounge for drinks.

No one knew this but Maura Isles loved to dance. Alone with no risk of interruption she would turn on the music and just dance around. She had always wanted to go to a dance club, and Europe had some of the best, but she had never had the social conformability to go. She was feeling darling these days and thought that now would be the perfect time. In the lounge they found a couch in the corner of the room and sat, sipping their drinks, and just talked for a while. Once the DJ started and the club started filling up Maura took Jane by the hand and smiled. "Dance with me, Jane."

The dance floor was crowded so their bodies were close which Jane didn't mind. She hadn't known what to expect, Maura didn't seem the club music sort, but she certainly hadn't expected this. Maura had closed her eyes for a few moments as the music began to swell around them. Her body began to move slowly, as if it were feeling out the rhythm and beat of the song. Then those beautiful hazel eyes opened, Maura smiled, and her body began to move in ways that had Jane transfixed. Maura swayed and rolled her hips while her hand touched her torso in ways that Jane was envious of. She'd never liked Justin Timberlake but Sexyback was quickly becoming one of her favorite songs. Jane was to busy watching Maura to dance herself. She was to preoccupied with the way Maura's ass looked and the way she bounced when she raised her arms up over her head. It wasn't until she felt Maura's hands on her own hips that she snapped out of it. Jane blushed as she looked into Maura's eyes knowing she'd been busted but all Maura did was smile, press her body closer and start to move Jane's hips in rhythm with her own and the music.

They danced for a while, both getting lost in each other as if they were alone on the dance floor. When Maura finally led Jane away they were both covered in a sheen of sweat so they made their way through the throng of bodies to the ladies room. The music was lower in the bathroom, which made it easier to talk. "Are you enjoying yourself, Jane?"

"You have no idea how much." Jane said as she moved closer to Maura, backing her up against the wall. Until now Maura had been making most of the first advances. Maura had come to her apartment and told her she was in love with her. Maura had started the conversation on her couch about their feelings. Maura had come up with and planed out this whole date thing. It was about time Jane took some insinuative in this romance. With Maura pressed against the wall, her right hand pressed against the wall near Maura's head, and her left on Maura's hit, Jane asked, "Where did you learn to dance like that? Cause that wasn't Russian ballet."

Maura licked her lips as she looked into dark brown eyes that were nearly black with desire. She smirked as she answered, "My mother stopped picking my dance classes a long time ago."

"And what kind of classes have you been picking?" Jane asked while inching her face closer to Maura's.

Their lips were nearly touching as Maura replied. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

A soft growl tickled the back of Jane's throat as she pressed her lips to Maura's. When she felt the shorter woman wrap her arms around her neck Jane deepened the kiss. Maura's lips were soft, she tasted like the vodka and cranberry she'd had at the bar, and Jane found herself sinking into that kiss in a way she'd never felt before. When the kiss came to an end, both women in need of air, Jane was left lightheaded. She pressed her forehead to Maura's as she filled her chest with air. "All these years, as close as we are; there's still so much we don't know about each other."

Maura smiled, her own chest rising and falling with a slight pant. "Yes, but now we can discover it all together."

Jane nodded. "I'm looking forward to it."

After forcing themselves away from each other they freshened up and then returned to the VIP lounge. In their corner of the room they had a couple more drinks. Maura sat close, so close her body was pressed up against Jane's. Jane had her arm around Maura, her head dipped close so they could talk in an inmate way. Neither was sure which was more intoxicating, their drinks or the other's closeness. They danced some more, drank a little more, and by the time they left they were both slightly drunk and starving, so they ended their night out at Denny's, Jane's choice of course.

It was the wee hours of the morning by the time they made it to Jane's apartment and once again Maura found herself pressed against a wall as she and Jane explored each other's mouths and bodies for several wonderful minutes. "Jane." Maura panted at the end of a particularly passionate kiss. "I need to go."

"Why?" Jane asked in a husky voice so low it made Maura weak in the knees.

It took several seconds for Maura to remember why. "It's our first date."

"We've wanted this for a long time, Maura." Jane replied.

"I know." Maura said as she captured Jane's face in her hands. "But we agreed to go slow."

Jane growled but nodded in agreement. This time when she kissed Maura it was slower, sweeter. "I love you."

Maura's smile was radiant. "I love you too. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You mean later today?" Jane asked with a smirk.

Maura chuckled. "Yes."

"Night Maura." Jane whispered before reluctantly letting her go.

"Good night, Jane." Maura replied. She kissed Jane one more time and then left the apartment.

When they woke up later that day both women realized they were way to old to close out a club like that, but both also felt that it was totally worth it. Maura was beyond thrilled that the date had been a success. They spent the evening at their own homes but they were on the phone until Maura fell asleep on her sofa, letting her phone clunk to the floor. Jane laughed softly when she realized the noise coming over the line was Bass nipping at the strange object on the floor with his beak.

Jane took on their second date, Sunday dinner with her mother didn't count as dates she'd informed Maura the Sunday after their first, and she'd wanted to do something for Maura to make it special so she thought about all the things Maura had said she'd never gotten to do as a kid. Jane also wanted to put some of Maura's concerns at ease. The blonde still worried about how their new relationship would effect Jane socially, so Jane decided to show Maura that she was happy with the way things were turning out. She was able to accomplish both of her goals by taking Maura to the St. Francis' Italian street festival.

"We'd spend the whole weekend here every year." Jane told Maura as they walked through the stalls of carnival games. "We'd ride all the rides over and over, play the games over and over, and eat until we had to be rolled home."

Maura looked like a little kid taking it all in for the first time. It meant so much to her that Jane had brought her here. "When urban places like cities and large towns and villages began being populated with people of different backgrounds fairs like this became a way of connecting with people who were alike."

Jane just smirked while she listened to Maura Google-speak. When her girlfriend, she liked that, she liked thinking of Maura as her girlfriend, stopped for air Jane cut in. "What do you want to do first? A ride, a game, or food?"

"Hmm." Maura replied as she looked around. "Rides."

"Good choice." Jane said as she went to buy ride tickets. Their first ride was Jane's favorite, the tilt-a-whirl. She'd loved the fast spinning ride as a kid and watching the way Maura's eyes sparkled, hearing the way she giggled, made it her favorite ride as an adult too. The rides weren't big, they weren't amusement park caliber, but they were still fun and watching Maura's enjoyment made them even better. After they'd done a complete circuit of the rides, with an extra turn on the tilt-a-whirl, Jane asked, "Ready for food?"

"I'm starving." Maura said with a nod.

Jane smiled brightly as she took Maura's hand and led her to the sausage and peppers stand. "You're going to love this." Walking up to the woman in the stall Jane ordered two sausage and peppers and two lemonades. Then she carried them, with Maura at her side, to the tented sitting area. Before taking a bite of her own she watched Maura.

Picking up the bun Maura looked over the Italian sausage smothered in green peppers and grilled onions carefully before taking a bite. Her eyes went huge and then fluttered half closed. "Oh my god that's good." She mumbled.

"I told you." Jane said with a smug smirk.

After they finished lunch they started walking through the game stalls. Jane was standing by the milk bottle stall throwing baseballs when she heard the familiar and unwelcome voice.

"Hey you two." Giovanni called out as he approached Jane and Maura. "You two are lookin' hot."

Jane groaned. "Yeah, Giovanni thanks."

"Wow." He said, as he looked them both over, his eyes lingering on jean clad rear-ends, t-shirt swaddled breasts, and Maura's cleavage. "You two still together?"

Normally it was Jane who replied because Maura couldn't lie but their answer was no longer a lie so she happily said, "Yes Giovanni. We are together."

"You've been together for a long time." Giovanni said as he continued checking them out. "You two thinkin' babies yet? Casue ya know if you need a little help…"

"Oh! Oh! Stop!" Jane said while making a face that showed how grossed out she was at the idea of Giovanni "helping" them that way. "No, we're not at that stage yet so just stop talking."

"It was a lovely offer, Giovanni." Maura said politely. "But Jane's right. We're not ready to go there just yet."

Giovanni nodded. "Ok, but if yous change your minds, I'd be happy to help. It would be a while lotta fun."

"Eww." Jane said shaking her head. "Stop, just stop. Do not finish that thought." Jane shook her herself as if shaking off something nasty. "Don't you have a grease pole to climb or something?"

Giovanni smiled. "Yeah, I do. You two gonna stick around and watch?"

Jane nodded. "Wouldn't be right to leave before it. So you should go like prepare or something."

"Yeah, ok, good idea." Giovanni said with a nod. "See ya round." He gave them another once over and then said, "So hot."

After watching Giovanni walk away Maura turned to Jane and asked, "Grease pole?"

Jane smirked. "It's a tradition better seen then explained."

At dusk a crowd of people started to gather around what looked like a telephone pole that had been erected in the middle of the parking lot. The pole was coated in thick black grease and there were several men of various ages and builds in white t-shirts gathering at that bottom. Jane pulled Maura through the crowd until they had a good spot. "You don't want to get to close. The grease falls off." She had a huge grin on her face as she waved over her head. "Frankie! Tommy!"

"Are they participating?" Maura asked as she stood on her tie toes to see.

Jane nodded. "Every year since they were sixteen."

"What's the desired out come of this activity?" Maura asked.

Jane looked at her with a raised brow. "Did you just ask what's the point?"

Maura chuckled. "I suppose I did, yes."

"There are teams of five." Jane explained. "First team to grab the flag at the top wins the cash prize. They've always done it, since like the 1920's, it has roots or something similar, in Italy. No one really knows the real history behind it. Some say it's symbolic of struggling against hunger because they use to hang meats and stuff at the top. Some say it goes as far back as the pagans and it's a fertility thing. Some say it represents the dreams of Italian immigrants. In Sicily the pole is horizontal and it's placed over water… What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Maura had been staring at Jane with a huge smile and a slightly smug look. "You're Google-speaking!"

"I am not!" Jane protested.

"You are too!" Maura said as she burst into laughter.

Jane just huffed. "Turn around and watch the grease monkeys."

Maura just giggled as Jane put her hands on her upper arms and turned her to face the pole. She watched the teams and cheered the loudest for the team Frankie and Tommy were on. When their team won, she and Jane went over to congratulate them. The boys were covered in thick black grease. Tommy just nodded and walked off. He was still feeling stung by Maura's rejection. But Frankie got this mischievous smile on his face as he looked at Maura. She started to back up as he inched closer. "Don't Frankie." She warned as he opened his arms as if to hug her and came closer. "Frankie!" She squeaked.

Jane just laughed as Frankie tried to hug Maura who was now hiding behind her. Jane let Frankie tease Maura a little longer before finally saying, "Alright you big grease monkey leave her alone. Go get cleaned up and we'll have dinner together."

"Aww that's sweet Sis." Frankie said with a smirk. "Gonna share your date with me?"

"No." Jane snorted. "And I'm not sharing my food with you either but I'll let you sit at the same table." While she'd been teasing Frankie, Maura had been watching Tommy. When Jane turned to look at her girlfriend she saw the concerned look on the blonde's face. "He'll be ok."

Maura turned her head to look at Jane. "Are you sure?"

Jane nodded. "His ego's a little bruised and he's still feeling kind of embarrassed. Let him deal with the fact that his big sister got the girl and then he'll be fine."

"I hope so Jane." Maura replied. Causing a rift with her family had been one of the reasons Maura had been afraid of telling Jane how she felt about her.

Reaching up Jane caressed Maura's cheek and gave her a reassuring smile before taking her hand. "Come on. Lets see if we can pull Ma out of the casino long enough to eat something. Then after dinner we'll ditch my family and find a very inappropriate place to make out."

"Jane." Maura said with a slightly scolding tone and a roll of her eyes.

Jane smirked. "Well if you don't want to make out."

"I didn't say that." Maura replied with a giggle.

Jane smirked. "That's what I thought."


	8. Chapter 8

Small warning - This chap could be kind of rated M. It's nothing to graphic but there is build up to sex so to be on the safe said, I'm rating this chapter M

* * *

Slow and steady was turning into sexually frustrated for both Jane and Maura. It had been nearly a month since they started dating and they still hadn't slept together. Well that wasn't true. They slept together all the time, they did that before they were a couple, what they weren't doing yet was having sex. They both wanted it to be meaningful and special, and they were both kind of scared and anxious about it too. Maura hadn't done more then some innocent fooling around in boarding school and Jane had no experience at all when it came to sex with another woman. They both knew that the other wanted to have sex, neither was leery of a kissing the other until she was dizzy, or letting their hands roam over curves or across skin, but neither of them had been willing to take it to the next level yet.

Maura enjoyed sex, a lot, and she missed it. She wanted to be with Jane in every way and that included being her lover, so Maura decided that it was time to take another risk. At the end of her workday Maura stopped by Jane's desk to let her know that she was going to be picking up dinner and brining it over to Jane's apartment. Jane smiled and said she'd see her there. After leaving work Maura went to her house to shower, change, and check on Bass. She also called up her favorite French restaurant and personally talked to the chef, asking him to prepare dinner for her. After her shower, there was nothing sexy about smelling like the dead, Maura very carefully picked out an outfit. Sexy but causal was her goal so she picked her new Dolce & Gabbana floral print silk crepe top and matching pleated skirt. After packing an overnight bag and tossing it into the passenger seat of her Prius, Maura went to her favorite little wine shop and picked up a very nice wine and then over the restaurant to pick up the dinner for two she'd requested.

When she arrived at Jane's she let herself in using her key. She smiled brightly when Jo Friday came trotting up to her, her little tail waging. Crouching down Maura set the bottle of wine down so she could give the little dog a scratch before standing and walking over to the little breakfast bar that served as Jane's dinning table. She set the bag with their dinner on the counter, put the wine in the fridge, and then put their meals in the oven to keep them warm. Then she took Jo for a little walk. When she returned to the apartment she set the table but didn't do anything to overly romantic. She was aiming for a relaxing evening that would hopefully lead to an active night, and she worried that being overly romantic about dinner would just add pressure that would led to another night of cuddling and no actual sex. Cuddling with Jane was great, but sex would be so much better. Taking her iPod from her purse Maura placed it in the dock of Jane's stereo and chose one of her favorite Pandora stations, then she turned the volume down so the music was more of accent piece then a focal point.

"A girl could get use to this." Jane said when she walked into the apartment to find Maura setting serving dishes of food on the counter. The beaming smile she got from Maura lit up Jane's eyes. "Let me take Jo out real quick and we can eat."

"Already did that." Maura said as she moved towards the fridge. "Why don't you shower instead and then we can eat. I brought a couple of movies with me."

Jane nodded while moving closer to the blonde. "Sounds like a good plan to me, but first things first." She pulled Maura close and kissed her. When they broke apart Jane was smirking. "Hi."

Maura's smile was radiant. "Hi."

Jane took a quick shower and changed into a pair of jeans and the white tank top that she knew Maura liked most. After putting her hair up in a ponytail she made her way back into the kitchen to find Maura smirking at something she was putting on a plate. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Maura said as she set the serving dish on the counter. After cleaning up the take out containers Maura poured the wine and then took her seat across from Jane.

"Maura, this isn't normal take out is it?" Jane asked as she looked at the dishes set out.

"Well," Maura said as she looked over it to. "Not really. I called Chef Sebastian and asked him to make a few things. Steamed mussels in Vermouth and wine-poached salmon with black truffles for the main course, the sides are frites and petits pates a la sage, there's a chestnut soup with crème fraiche, and…" Jane had popped several stuffed mushroom caps into her mouth while Maura was talking and it was all Maura could do not to laugh. "Escargot stuffed mushroom caps."

Big brown eyes went impossibly wide. "Escargot?"

"Yes." Maura answered as she hid her giggle behind her hand.

"Maura!" Jane said as she reached for her wine and downed it. "That's snail!"

"Yes." Maura said, her giggle turning to a full laugh. "I know."

"I just ate snail!" Jane said as she glared at her girlfriend.

"And you liked it!" Maura protested, still laughing. "Come on Jane. I know you liked it. You were eating them like you eat popcorn chicken."

"You don't catch popcorn chicken in your garden, Maura!" Jane said as she wiped her tongue with her napkin.

"Oh now you're just being overly dramatic Jane." Maura said with an amused huff. "And one does not catch escargot in one's garden. They're farm raised, organically of course, like any other eatable animal."

Jane glared at the blonde sitting across from her but it wasn't really an angry glare, more of a, I will get you for this my pretty, kind of glare.

"The rest of the meal is perfectly safe, Jane." Maura promised.

Jane huffed. "It's a good thing I love you."

"Yes." Maura said with a prim smirk. "It is."

After dinner while Jane cleaned up Maura set up the movie and then settled on the couch with Jo. She'd gone with two, La Belle et la Bete, the 1946 French version of Beauty and the Beast. The second was a German film from 1931 called Maedchen in Uniform. It was one of the first films ever made about lesbians.

Jane groaned as Maura cuddled close and pressed play. "Black and white foreign films?"

"I sat through all the Die Hard movies last weekend." Maura reminded her girlfriend.

Since meeting Maura all those years ago while she was undercover as a hooker, Jane had been discovering new things that she would have never even attempted to try before Maura. Though she moaned and groaned about them she kind of liked the old black and white films, they were to artsy to be called movies, that Maura almost always choose. "I guess it's better then watching Grease or Dirty Dancing or Havana Nights for the thousandth time."

"I like those movies." Maura said with a point.

Jane chuckled. "I know you like those movies. That's why I'm willing to rewatch them over and over again."

Maura smiled and stretched a little so she could place a soft kiss on Jane's lips. "You also do it so I won't complain when you want to watch The Fox and The Hound for the billionth time."

"That's a classic!" Jane defended as she tickled Maura. "Plus, I only watch it when I don't feel good." Wrapping her arms around Maura she added, "And it reminds me of us."

"A cartoon fox and dog remind you of us?" Maura asked with a raised brow.

Jane poked Maura where she knew Maura was ticklish. "The whole two unlikely friends thing reminds me of us."

"Oh." Maura said with a smile. "Yes, I suppose when looking at us from the outside we would seem an unlikely pair. There was an interesting study done recently in the journal of Evolutionary Psychology about the theory of opposites attracting when it comes to…"

Maura's voice was suddenly muffled by Jane's hand. Hazel eyes narrowed as brown ones sparkled. "Start the movie, Maura." Maura said something that was still muffled because of Jane's hand that Jane was fairly certain wasn't nice and it made her laugh.

About ten minutes into the first movie Maura slipped her hand under Jane's tank top and started to lightly caress the skin underneath. Jane's skin was so soft and warm, and in her mind Maura was naming the tone muscles she could feel beneath it. There'd been a reason for picking foreign films with subtitles, and why she'd picked the French one first. She knew that at some point Jane would get bored and when she did Maura wanted Jane's attention to be focused on her. Sure enough Maura's simple touch had given Jane silent permission to return that touch. While Maura was caressing Jane's stomach, Jane began to trail her fingers along Maura's shoulder, dipping them under her top to trace along the blonde's collarbone. Twenty minutes in and Maura had moved her feather light touches to the under curve of Jane's breast, while Jane's hand had found the curve of Maura's hip. Maura smiled when she felt her skirt shift a little higher and Jane's fingertips skimming over the skin of her thigh. The nature of the second film allowed them both to be a little more darling in their explorations. While they watched the young German student falling in love with her teacher and the intimate moments between them, Jane's tank top was bunched around her breasts like a sports bra and the hem of Maura's skirt was nearly to her waist.

Maura wasn't going to let tonight end like the other nights when their make out sessions on the couch ended with either them cuddling in bed or the other heading home, leaving the other and herself to finish things off alone. Maura shifted from her position beside Jane, throwing one leg over her lap, and then settling in so she was straddling Jane. Hazel eyes were quickly becoming dark as Maura looked down into Jane's almost black with desire brown eyes. Leaning in she kissed Jane deeply while she concentrated on keeping her fingers from trembling as she tugged on Jane's tank top. She felt Jane's body tense at first and knew that her girlfriend was feeling a little uncertain but relief washed over Maura when she felt Jane push her skirt up, and those strong hands cup her backside.

Jane had been startled by Maura's sudden aggression but it didn't really surprise her. Maura, at least when it came to her, seemed to be doing much better with the whole asking for things issue she had. As the kiss began to heat up, as the warmth from Maura's hands radiated through her body, as the feeling of Maura's behind filled her hands, Maura's new found risk taking was pretty much the last coherent thought Jane had before everything went blissfully fuzzy. When they finally had to force themselves to stop because their lungs were on fire from lack of air, Jane looked into Maura's eyes and simply asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes Jane." Maura said, her voice soft, deep, husky with desire. "I'm more then sure."

Jane nodded and just like that their rolls were reversed. Now it was Jane taking the lead, it was Jane helping Maura to her feet; it was Jane leading the honey blonde woman with the eyes her favorite color to her bedroom. It was Jane pulling Maura's blouse off up over her head. It was Jane who slowly lowered the zipper on Maura's five hundred dollar skirt, which the blonde didn't even bat a lash at when it hit the floor. It was Jane who gently pushed Maura onto the bed.

It wasn't as if Maura had suddenly turned submissive in this whole interaction. While Jane had been undressing her Maura had been making quick work of Jane's clothes as well. She took particular joy in undoing the buttons of Jane's jeans, letting the backs of her fingers brush against the hidden satin behind the denim and metal buttons. For the first time since she became sexually active Maura wasn't taking an internal innovatory of released hormones or cataloging her body's reactions. She was simply in the moment with Jane feeling everything, both physical and emotional. Laying there in Jane's bed in noting but her Victoria Secret hiphugger panties and matching bra Maura felt this overwhelming sense of finally being home and she knew that it had everything to do with the lithe body hovering over her own. Reaching up Maura cradled Jane's face in her hands and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you." Jane replied, her voice deeper, huskier, and laced with desire for the beautiful woman beneath her. She dipped her head, capturing Maura's lips in a searing kiss. She had no idea what she was doing but Jane had always relied heavily on her instincts so that's what she was doing now, listening to her intuition and taking her cues from Maura.

Outside her window the dark night skies of Boston were just starting to turn gray as the sun inched ever higher, and Jane was finally getting to sleep. Once they'd figured out the basics everything else came easy and she and Maura had made love all night. Jane smiled, her body felt physically satisfied, her heart felt full, and even she knew it was corny, but her soul felt whole. She looked down at Maura, who was already asleep in her arms, and smiled. Then Jane let herself drift off to sleep as well.

When she woke up the next morning the sun was up and it felt late but still morning. She didn't feel like actually opening her eyes to look. She was unbelievably comfortable. Maura was on her back, which is how she normally slept, and Jane was on her side. Her arm was around Maura's waist, her head snuggled against Maura's shoulder, and their legs were entwined. Though something felt odd about their legs so Jane did crack open one eye to see what it was, and the sight made her smile. Jo Friday was curled up in the little space where her and Maura's legs left a little opening. It was the best wake up she'd ever had, until she realized that she hadn't awaken on her own, and it wasn't Jo or Maura who done it either. Jane was suddenly alert, listening carefully, her mind already going to where she'd left her gun.

"Janie!" Angela called out. "Janie, the chain's on the door!"

Jane groaned and buried her face in the mass of honey blonde curls fanned out on the pillow. Where'd she leave her gun? Jane slowly, carefully extracted herself from Maura and slipped out of bed. Maura was still asleep but Jo was giving her a dirty look for disturbing her. Jane bit her cheek to keep herself from laughing as Jo walked up the bed and settled herself beside Maura, putting her little doggie head on Maura's shoulder and went back to sleep, while Jane threw on track pants and t-shirt.

"Janie!" Angela called out again.

"Ma." Jane said as she came into the living room. "Shhh. People in this building are trying to sleep." She pushed the door closed and undid the chain to let her mother in.

Angela was frowning as she stepped inside. "Why was the door chained?"

"To keep people with emergency keys who don't know what an emergency is out." Jane answered honestly as she padded into her kitchen to make coffee.

"It's after ten, Jane." Angela scolded. "Why are you still in bed?"

Jane yawned as she plunked a k-cup into the overly priced coffee maker Maura had bought. "It's Saturday and I'm off so I was sleeping in."

"You hardly ever sleep in, Jane." Angela said while looking her daughter over. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Ma." Jane protested when Angela tried to feel her forehead. "I'm fine, knock that off."

Angela was about to ask Jane another question when a soft sleepy voice came from bedroom. "Jane?" Maura had heard voices after waking up because she'd sensed she was suddenly alone. A sleeply smile appeared on her face when she woke up with Jo and then chuckled softly when Jo gave her a dirty look for moving. "Sorry sweetie." She said softly to the little dog and gave her head an affectionate little rub before getting out of bed and pulling on her panties and one of Jane's BPD t-shirts. Last night had been wonderful, even the awkwardness at the beginning, and Maura was feeling very happy this morning. Maura hadn't felt so nervous and excited about sex in a very long time. She liked the feeling of reduced blood flow to the stomach due to redirection of the blood to the muscles around the stomach because of the released of adrenaline and endorphins that happened during the tentative first stages of making love. In the back of her mind Maura could hear Jane's voice asking, 'Couldn't you have just said butterflies in your stomach?' and it made her giggle. "Jane?" Maura called out again as she came into the living room. "I thought I heard… oh… Good morning, Angela."

Angela looked between her daughter and Maura a few times taking them in. She knew the girls often slept in the same bed. She'd also been living in Maura's guest house long enough to know that she never left her bedroom looking disheveled, and there she stood with messy hair, wearing one of Jane's shirts, and blushing. "Good morning, sweetheart."

"Hey," Jane huffed playfully. "How come she gets a good morning sweetheart and I get the third degree about sleeping in?"

"I like her better." Angel teased, and just like that any awkward moment was avoid.

"Good to know." Jane said as she smiled over at Maura. Reaching into her cupboard she pulled out a black coffee mug with white writing on it that read 'Dr. Smartypants' and then set it under the nozzle of the coffee maker to collect Maura's coffee. Once it was full Jane carried it over to the blonde and kissed her softly on the lips before relinquishing the mug. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Maura said with a new blush creeping over her cheeks.

Jane was completely transfixed by the color on Maura's cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes until she heard clattering in her kitchen. "Ma, what are you doing?"

"Making stuffed French toast." Angela replied.

"Ma." Jane started to complain. She wanted to be alone with Maura.

Maura put her hand on Jane's arm. "That actually sounds really good Jane and I am kind of really hungry."

Jane huffed. "See, that's why she likes you better. You take her side."

"I'm taking my stomach's side." Maura teased back.

"Don't worry Janie." Angela said with a smile. "I'll make breakfast and then be outta your hair. I just came by to get your shopping list anyway."

Jane smiled back. "Thanks Ma."

"Anything for my girls." Angela said before diving into Jane's refrigerator and fishing out the ingredients for breakfast.

Jane could see how much her mother's use of girls meant to Maura, the way those beautiful hazel eyes shimmered, and it made her smile as she pulled Maura close and held her. For the past month she'd had this odd little phrase stuck in her head and standing there with Maura in her arms it rang true yet again. Good things come to those who wait. She'd waited for Maura for a long time and Jane knew without any doubt she was never letting her go.


	9. Chapter 9

Work had been hectic and stressful for weeks, completely undoing any and all good a week in Geneva with Constance had done them, and after closing a fairly gruesome case, a copycat living out a sick fantasy by duplicating the Black Dahlia murder from 1940's L.A., Jane and Maura both needed a break. After batting around a few ideas and getting a few days off plus the weekend, they decided to drive down to Martha's Vineyard, where Maura's family had a vacation home of course. Jane was finding it a little odd to be dating someone with money, especially the kind of money the Isles had, family money, old money, hell Constance's family money was so old it wasn't even American, but Jane loved Maura and she was slowly starting to get use to being with someone who would drop five hundred dollars on a pair of heels and not even bat a pretty little eyelash at cutting them up so Jane could borrow them. So when Maura suggested they spend their weekend on Martha's Vineyard Jane fought the urge to ask if she looked like the vineyard type and agreed. She wanted to be a part of Maura's life for the foreseeable future, so she knew she'd have to adapt a little to Maura's way of life.

When Jane arrived at Maura's Wednesday evening Maura was still packing. Jane laid on the bed watching as Maura carefully picked out each outfit and paired it with the perfect pair of shoes, accessories, and make-up, even perfume. "You are aware that we're leaving in like twelve hours right?"

Maura just rolled her eyes as she carefully placed a pair of slacks and a blouse in her suitcase. "You've been watching me get dressed nearly every morning for a while now, Jane." Since that first night at Jane's apartment they've slept and don't other things in the same bed almost every single night, the exceptions being when one or the other or both worked over night. "You should know by now that I have certain habits when it comes to dressing."

"Habits?" Jane asked in a teasing tone. "More like obsessions and OCD."

The honey blonde narrowed hazel eyes, that seemed a little more brown then normal because she was wearing a brown sweater, at her girlfriend and then threw a pair of socks at her. Jane laughed as she easily caught the projectile. When Maura was finally finished packing she wheeled her suitcase into the living room, she paused to get a set of keys from her desk drawer and then headed for the hallway off the kitchen that lead to a side door, which was directly across from the garage. "Grab your bags Jane."

Jane raised an eyebrow and followed. "What are we doing?"

"Putting our things in the car." Maura answered. "If we do it now then that's one less thing to worry about in the morning."

"Ok." That made sense Jane thought, but what didn't make sense was going out the back because the car was in the driveway right outside the courtyard gate. Jane got really confused when Maura unlocked the garage door and went inside. Stepping inside her eyes went wide. There sat a beautiful so blue it looked black Mercedes SL roadster. "I always wondered what you did with this car." She moved around the beautiful machine while Maura popped the trunk from where she was standing with a smile on her beautiful face. "Why on Earth would you trade this for a Prius?"

"The Prius is more eco-friendly." Maura explained yet again. "It just makes better environmental sense to use it as an everyday car."

"That creepy quiet car leaves just as big a carbon footprint in it's manufacturing as any other car." Jane said with a huff as she continued to admire Maura's other car. When she caught the look of surprise on Maura's face she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I pay attention when you make me watch those BBC shows." Then she smiled. "I kind of like Top Gear."

Maura chuckled softly as she walked over to Jane and held out the keys. "Just don't drive like you're on the track. Massachusetts has speed limits and traffic laws."

Jane looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "You're letting me drive?"

"Unless you'd rather I…"

Jane didn't give Maura a chance to finish that sentence. She took the keys and continued to grin like an idiot as she put their suitcases in the trunk. "Suddenly the two hour drive to Falmouth doesn't seem so daunting."

The next morning they had breakfast with Angela so they could go over pet car instructions and last minutes house sitting things. They had an open window of about two hours between the morning rush and the afternoon rush to get out of Boston, so at nine thirty Jane slide into the driver's seat of the Merc and started it up with a roar of the 429 horsepower twin turbo V-8 engine and a very un-Jane like girly giggle. Since they'd started dating Jane had noticed Maura had a new habit whenever they were in a car alone and Jane was driving. For nearly the whole ride Maura would rest her hand on Jane's thigh, her fingers tapping out the beat to a song from the radio or just one tangled up in that beautiful brain of hers, and Jane had to admit she liked it a lot. There were a lot of little things that Maura had started doing that Jane liked a lot. She liked it when Maura wore her t-shirts to bed almost as much as she liked the sexy little silk lacy things she wore, or when she wore nothing at all. She liked the way Maura rested her head on her shoulder when they watched television. She liked the way Maura kissed the scar on the hand of the arm she had wrapped around her every night before whispering, "Goodnight Jane. I love you."

Maura wasn't the only one who'd become a little more intimate and relaxed, there were things that Jane did now that she hadn't before, things that made Maura smile, like letting Maura kiss or caress the scars on the palms of her hands. Jane tended to walk around in nothing but her underwear after her morning shower; Maura enjoyed that. She used Maura's lap as a pillow while she read, which let Maura play with Jane's raven curls. And while they slept Jane always had an arm around her in some way, as if even in her sleep Jane wanted only to protect her.

She hadn't really known what to expect when Maura said her parents owned a house on Martha's Vineyard, but the rustic looking beach front house attached to the driveway she was pulling into wasn't it. The wood siding was ash gray and withered, the trim was white, and the front steps were stone. It was simple looking on the outside, like a normal house weathered and battered by age and weather. It looked like a house Jane would own.

"My Dad likes the weather look." Maura explained as they got out of the car. "It drives Mother insane." She added with a chuckle. "But Dad says he's no living in a candy colored house like the ones we passed on our way here."

Of course the inside of the house was impeccably and professionally decorated which made the inside mismatch the outside, and in a weird way the house kind of reminded Jane of her and Maura, all mismatched and yet perfectly paired. Jane could easily see herself spending a lot of time with her lover in this house, which was weird, Jane would have never seen herself as the vineyard type of girl before Maura. "Where should I put these?" She asked, indicating their bags.

"Upstairs, the bedroom at the end of the hall, on the right." Maura answered as she looked around to make sure her instructions had been followed. As soon as they'd decided to come here she'd called the caretaker to make sure the house was cleaned and well stocked.

The bedroom was done in soft yellows and creams with light furniture. It was simple, tasteful, and had just enough hints in its décor to say this was Maura's room. Jane smiled as she set their suitcases down and looked around a bit. The pictures on the walls, the knickknacks, the books lying around were all little touches of Maura and she wondered how much time Maura spent here. After exploring a little more Jane made her way back downstairs. "Your bathroom is orange."

Maura chuckled. "I did that to annoy my mother, but then it grew on me so I kept it like that."

"There's a lot of you in your room." Jane said as she wrapped her arms around Maura and pulled her close. "It's more lived in and homey then the other rooms."

"I use to spend my summers here." Maura replied as she wrapped her arms around Jane's neck. "I'd visit my parents were ever they were and then come here."

"By yourself?" Jane asked with a raised eyebrow.

"When I was older, yes, by myself." Maura said with a nod. "With a nanny when I was younger. I liked the peace and quiet more then my parents' jet setting."

"Did your parents ever join you here?" Jane asked, her heart going out to the lonely little girl Maura must have been.

Maura nodded. "Two weeks every summer doing the racing season."

"Racing season?" Jane asked.

"Sailing." Maura said with a huge smile and then turned in Jane's arms and pulled her into the living room and over to a wall of pictures. She pointed to a framed picture of a handsome man and little girl with sun lightened blonde hair standing on the deck of a sailboat.

Jane couldn't help but smile at the smiling little girl in the picture. She would know those eyes at any age. "Is that you and your dad?"

Maura nodded. "Being out on the water always made Mother nervous but Dad and I loved it."

"Do you still sail?" Jane asked as she took in the rest of the pictures.

"I haven't in ages." Maura confessed. "But I did call ahead to the marina. Our boat is in the water and a small crew on hand. I thought we'd go out for a bit tomorrow afternoon if you'd like too."

"Sounds good to me." Jane said as she tightened her arms around Maura. "And what about today?"

A very light blush colored Maura's cheeks as she said, "I sort of have this little tradition, I always go to this one place in particular as soon as I get here."

Jane grinned as she said, "What are we waiting for? Lets go."

The Flying Horse Carousel was the oldest carousel in the U.S. The painted horses were hand carved with manes and tails of real horsehair, and there were still brass rings to reach out for as you went around on the ride. It was a little childish but Maura loved it. Some of her most vivid and cherished memories was coming to the carousel with her parents, watching them wave to her as she came around again and again, their beautiful smiles, and the joy she felt at seeing them. Of course she wanted to share this with Jane. She wanted to share everything that mattered to her with Jane. With Jane's hand firmly in her own Maura led her over to a butterscotch colored horse, it was the one she always rode. Beside it was a chocolate colored horse that she told Jane to get on.

It had been ages since Jane had been on a carousel, unlike the fast clock-wise-counter-clock-wise spinning of the tilt-a-whirl, the constant circle of the carousel made her a little dizzy and nauseas, but how could she refuse when Maura looked so happy. Climbing onto the chocolate colored, kind of creepy looking if you asked her, old carousel horse Jane watched the pure delight in Maura's face as the ride started up. The sweet way Maura laughed, the way she giggled as she reached for the brass rings, let Jane know just how much this old tourist attraction meant to her girlfriend, and it made it mean a lot to Jane too.

After several rides on the carousel the two ladies head over to the Offshore Ale Company for dinner and a taste testing. Jane was always up for trying a new brew and since discovering she rather enjoyed beer herself, Maura was up for trying a few too. When they got back to the house they sat on the steps of the front porch and just talked for a while. Jane even managed to rig up her phone so she could get a picture of them sitting there. One day away from the city, one whole day spent just with Maura, and already Jane was feeling a hundred times better.

Three days of peace and quiet. Three days of just the two of them. It was heaven. Jane would call her mother first thing in the morning and then shut her phone off, cutting them off from whatever drama was going on in Boston. Friday they spent the day on the Isles sailboat and then had a romantic dinner at this great little seafood place. They spent Saturday exploring the island. Jane really liked seeing all the places Maura was taking her through Maura's eyes. It let her get to know Maura a little better and she really like that. Sunday they spent at the house doing not much of anything but relaxing and making love. As they were packing up the car on Monday to head back to Boston Jane was actually feeling sad that their little weekend was coming to an end.

"I think we should come back as soon as we can." Jane said as she pulled Maura close, wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist.

Maura smiled, her eyes bright and loving. "I think we should too."

They're little getaway had left them both relaxed and that lingered long after they'd gotten home. They were both more focused and on point at work, and Jane was even nice to her brothers and less snippy with her mother at home. There was a game on the plasma but Jane's attention was on Maura and her mother who were in the kitchen making Sunday dinner. She loved how Maura's eyes would light up when her mother would ask if the blonde wanted to learn a new dish, tonight it was eggplant parmesan. There was also a lovely brightness in her mother's face as she and Maura laughed together in the kitchen. Angela had shown Jane how to make a handful of dishes that Jane had asked to learn, but Jane wasn't really that big on cooking. Maura on the other hand enjoyed cooking, so Angela knew that everything she taught Maura would actually get made. Plus there was now the added bonus of knowing that the things she was teaching Maura to make would be used to help take care of Jane.

"You've made things that much harder on me and Tommy ya know." Frankie said from his place beside his sister on the couch.

Jane blinked and shifted so she was facing forward, her head turned towards her brother, rather then the twisted way she'd been sitting while watching the kitchen over her shoulder. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You brought home a girl Ma not only likes, but loves and adores." Frankie said. "Do you know how impossible it'll be for me and Tommy to bring home a girl that comes even close to Maura?"

"There's no chance of you ever bringing home a girl like Maura." Jane said with a smug smirk. "She's one of a kind."

Frankie rolled his eyes. "That's kinda my point. Compared to Maura no girl Tommy and me bring home will ever match up. You've totally screwed us over, Janie."

"To bad, so sad, sucks to be you." Janie said still smirking. She leaned back into the couch, threw one arm over the back of it, and brought her bottle of beer up to her lips.

"You ain't got to look so smug about it." Frankie pouted.

"Why shouldn't I?" Jane asked, as she looked over at her little brother. "I've done the impossible."

"And what would that be?" Tommy asked as he plopped down on Jane's other side.

Jane was still smirking as she said, "Brought home a girl Ma actually likes."

Tommy looked over his shoulder at Maura and his mother nodded. "Yeah, you did."

There was something in her brother's tone that caught Jane's attention. "You got a problem with me and Maura?"

"No." Tommy said before getting up and calling for Jo. "Taking Jo out." He said when Angela asked where he was going. "I'll be back."

When he got back Maura was waiting for him in the courtyard. She'd gotten to know Tommy pretty well since his release from prison. Sure he'd made some pretty big mistakes in the past but he really was a good man, a bright man, and Maura liked him a lot. "Tommy." She said as he walked through the gate. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine." Tommy answered as he tried to give her a smile.

"Jane says the same thing when she doesn't want to talk and I've learned to tell the difference between when she really is fine and when she isn't." Maura pointed out. "Tommy, if I did something, if I lead you on somehow, or if you think I was substituting…"

Tommy blinked. "What? No!" He cut her off. "Maura, you didn't do anything. I'm the putz who crossed the line and kissed you. You've been nothing but great since I came home. You've done so much for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you."

"Then what's the issue?" Maura asked. "Is it my relationship with Jane? Do you not approve because we're two women?"

"Not gonna lie." Tommy said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a little weird, yeah, but I'll get use to it. I love Janie, and I love you too, and you make each other happy."

"If it's not us then what is it, Tommy?" Maura asked gently.

He looked up to meet Maura's eyes, so much faith and caring in those eyes, and sighed softly. "I don't know her anymore, Maura. If I had known how she felt about you the way Ma and Frankie did, I would have never acted the way I did, but I didn't. I'm just mad at myself for letting things get to a point where she and I aren't as close as we use to be."

Maura listened to Tommy and when he was finished she said, "Avoiding her isn't going to change the fact that you feel distant from her. You've worked really had to get your life back on track, now you have to put some of that into getting to your sister again."

"It's not that easy, Maura." Tommy replied. "I've made a lot of mistakes and Janie's always going to see me as a fu… um…screw up."

"She can see how hard you're trying." Maura reassured him. "And it would go a long way if you told her about going back to school."

"So she can yell at you for helping me out again?" Tommy asked with a shake of his head.

"Don't worry about that." Maura said with a gentle shake of her head. "I can handle Jane if she gets angry. Besides, all I did was co-sign for a student loan."

"You did a lot more then that." Tommy replied. "You didn't laugh when I brought up the idea of going to back to school, you supported me, you even encouraged me."

Maura smiled warmly at him. "I think you're going to be a wonderful veterinary technician, and I know Jane would be so proud of you."

After they talked for a little while longer Maura and Tommy went into the house just as Angela was calling everyone to the table. "Go wash up you two." Angela told them as she shooed them off while she set the serving dishes on the table. When Jane cornered Maura to ask about what happened with Tommy Maura told her that they talked and they everything would be ok, but wouldn't go into detail. Over dinner there were a couple of shared looks between Tommy and Maura, which Jane caught. Just when Jane was about to ask what was going on Tommy told everyone he was going back to school. After Angela got finished gushing over her baby boy Jane put her arm around Tommy and said, "I'm proud of you baby brother."

Across the table Maura smiled proudly, lovingly, and gratefully. It meant a lot to her that the Rizzolis had taken her in so easily, even before she and Jane were together, and it meant even more that they'd accepted her and Jane as a couple as if it were the most natural and normal thing in the world. Maura knew that it took a lot for Angela and the boys to put aside certain things to accept her and Jane, and for that she would never be able to really thank them.

A couple of days later Jane was sitting at her desk looking over a witness statement that was bugging her. Something about the details seemed off but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was starting to annoy her, which was putting her in a bad mood. It didn't help that she was a little grumpy about Maura co-signing a student loan for Tommy without telling her. She was proud of her brother for stepping up like this, for taking steps in making his life better, but there was still a part of her that worried Tommy would mess it all up somehow, and Maura would be left holding Tommy's debt. There was also the issue of Tommy being her brother and her feeling left out of things, but Maura had a point when she'd said that there was a rift between her and Tommy that had caused Tommy to keep her out of the loop. Jane sighed as she sat back in her chair, titled her head back, and closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to fix things with Tommy and she needed to stop being jealous of him and Maura. It was a good thing that everyone she loved got along, it was a good thing that her family liked each other; Jane just wasn't very good at sharing.

"Janie." Frankie said as he and Tommy walked over to their sister.

Jane's dark eyes snapped opened and after taking in her brothers she asked, "What's wrong?"

The boys looked at each other before Frankie said, "Pop's in town."

"Pop's in town?" Jane repeated, not bothering to hide her surprise.

Frankie nodded. "He wants us to have dinner with him."

"And his new girlfriend." Tommy added with a disgusted look.

"New girlfriend?" Jane asked, mirroring Tommy's look.

"Come on Janie." Frankie said. "You haven't even talked to him since he left town. You gotta give him a chance."

"No she doesn't." Tommy said, his look of disgust turning to one of anger.

Jane looked between her brothers. There was something in the eyes that set off warning bells inside her head. "What?"

"He wants us to meet him at Carmelo's Saturday night for a family dinner." Frankie said, ignoring Tommy. "Eight o'clock."

"Tell her what he said." Tommy huffed.

"What did he say?" Jane asked as she shot to her feet.

Frankie hesitated so Tommy said, "He told Frankie to make sure you didn't bring Maura."

"What?" Jane shot back. "Why wouldn't he want me to bring…" She paused as she realized why. "Who told him about us?" She glared at her brothers. It was the way he wouldn't look at her that told it was Frankie, so she slugged him in the shoulder. "That wasn't your news to tell him!"

"It slipped!" Frankie defended himself.

"How does something like that just slip Frankie?" Jane asked hotly. "Were you talking about the Sox and then suddenly you jumped to oh by the way your daughter's screwing her best friend now?"

"He asked how you were." Frankie answered honestly. "You won't talk to him, Ma won't tell him anything, he just wanted to know you were ok. I told him you were going through some things, that things were changing for you, but that you were great, that being with Maura made you happier then you've ever been."

Jane sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"He didn't take it so well." Frankie added softly.

Jane sighed again. She just stood there trying not to explode.

"Janie?" Tommy said softly.

Jane opened her eyes looked at Frankie and said, "If Maura isn't welcome to his," She used air quotes, "family dinner" than neither am I. You can tell Pop I'll be having family dinner with my family, with Maura, and Ma."

"And me." Tommy said.

Frankie just sighed. He and Tommy watched as Jane walked away. She left the bullpen and walked down to the women's bathroom. After locking the door behind her she let herself sink into a crouch and silently cried over the news that her father didn't approve of her being with Maura. She'd known it was to good to be true that this wouldn't be easy and drama free, her Ma and brother being so accepting, that had been a blessing. She'd known deep down that there would be fall out but she hadn't thought it would come from her Pop. Yet again Jane was faced with the reality that the man she'd always looked up to and loved was a stranger to her. Leaving her mother, her parents getting divorced, him losing the house and business and then taking off like he did, that wasn't the man she thought she knew. He'd hurt her mother, her brothers, and now he was about to hurt Maura, because Jane knew this would cut her lover up inside, and that hurt Jane. It also pissed her off in ways she'd never known she could be so pissed off.

Once she was done crying Jane washed her face, got herself together, and went back to work. No one, no man, not even her father, was allowed to have that much power over her. Whatever issues her Pop had, they were his, and he could deal. She had a life to live and she was living it with Maura no matter what anyone said.


	10. Chapter 10

She was hurting, not that Jane was showing it, but she was hurting. Her father's rejection of her relationship with Maura was cutting Jane pretty deeply. Frank had called but she refused to answer, especially after she'd talking to Tommy Sunday morning after he and Frankie had meet their father for dinner the night before. Tommy told Jane the truth about Frank's reaction, about how he said that her being with Maura was wrong, that he wouldn't accept it, and that he expected her to find a man, get married, and forget about this thing with Doctor Isles. Frankie hadn't wanted to tell her, and that had pissed Jane off, but Tommy who'd gotten so pissed off at their father he'd ended up storming out of the restaurant, told her everything. Tommy was really trying to reconnect with her and that was the bright spot in this whole mess. It hadn't helped matters when Tommy told her that Frank's new girlfriend, Sandie Huffington, was all of twenty-six years old, making her younger then Tommy. Who the hell was her father to condemn her relationship when he was banging a preschooler?

"No Maura." Jane said with a roll of her eyes as she left her bedroom. "We're not stopping by your house so you can find a pair of heels that match the jersey. It's a Celtics' game not the red carpet. Just wear your sneakers, you'll be more comfortable, trust me."

In the living room Jane collected their tickets and made sure she had enough cash on her for the game and parking. "Maur! Come on we're going to be late!" She was just about to head back to the bedroom to tell Maura that she looked great and didn't need to primp so much for a basketball game, when there was a knock on the door. Jane groaned. They didn't have time for this; she wanted to be in her seat and settled with her first beer long before tip-off. She was ready to tear into whoever was on the other side of the door but stopped short when she saw who it was. "Pop."

"Hi Janie." Frank Rizzoli said as he stood in the hall looking at his little girl. "Can I come in?"

"Now's not a good time." Jane said, her body tense, her voice measured and cool. "We're just on our way out."

"We?" Frank asked as he looked past his daughter to see who was in the apartment with her.

"Yeah, we, as in me and Maura." Jane said as she blocked the doorway with her body, her arms crossed over her chest in a defensive way. "As in me and Maura who are together now. As in me and Maura who you don't approve of."

Frank sighed. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted you to hear my side of this."

"Do you have a problem with me being with Maura?" Jane asked pointedly.

"It's wrong, Janie." Frank said honestly. "Doctor Isles is a good person, but what you two are doing, it's just wrong."

Jane could feel her eyes stinging but a few quick blinks fixed that. "Then we have nothing to talk about and you need to go, Pop. Just go."

"Janie." Frank said a little to sharply.

"I love her." Jane said firmly. "I've loved her for a long time and now that she and I are together I've never been happier. Maybe you don't get it cause you've never had it, but she's the other half of me, nothing you or anyone else can say or do will change my mind about spending my life with her."

"Jane." Frank replied. "The Church, a family of your own, you're family, you're giving up on everything you were raised with."

"Ma loves Maura." Jane said. "So do Frankie and Tommy. The only person who has a problem is you, and well, you walked out on us first so you really don't get a say anymore Pop. As for the Church, it's not the only game out there, and who are you to even bring up the Church, you divorced Ma and last I checked the Church wasn't cool with divorce either." Jane paused a moment and then continued. "As far as having a family of my own goes? Well, someday, I hope Maura and I will have that, a family of our own. So all your arguments are invalid. The problems are all yours Pop. When you get past them let me know, until then." There were tears in Jane's eyes as she closed the door with a gentle click.

"Jane." Maura said softly as she walked up behind the other woman, wrapping her arms around Jane, and resting her chin on Jane's shoulder.

"Are you ready to go?" Jane asked, her voice soft and a little quivery.

Maura gently turned Jane so they were face to face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to see that look on your face." Jane said honestly as she looked into Maura's eyes, her hands coming up to caress Maura's face. There was a hurt and worried look on Maura's face and it was killing her. "I know how much you worried about us causing trouble with my family."

"I have caused trouble between you and your family." Maura said softly. "Jane, I'm…"

"Don't!" Jane snapped at her lover. "Don't you dare apologize! Maura there's nothing for you to be sorry for. Pop, he'll get use to it or he won't. Yeah, it'll hurt, but I can live with that. What I couldn't live without is you. I meant what I said about all the things I want, about us, and a future."

Maura was torn. It was a thrill to know Jane wanted a future with her but it was cutting her up inside to know that by loving Jane and being loved by Jane, she was causing conflict with her father. Her own father had been a little surprised at what he thought was a sudden change in her sexuality, but when the surprise wore off he was just glad that Maura had found someone. He'd been worried at his odd little duckling wouldn't find someone who not only accepted her quirks, but loved them, and her more because of them. Once he knew that Jane loved Maura unconditionally he was happy for Maura and wished her and Jane nothing but happiness and joy.

Leaning in Jane gave Maura a soft kiss. "Come on. We're going to miss tip off."

Jane refused to talk about her father and after several days of trying to get her to talk Maura finally backed off after Jane spent several nights at her apartment rather then coming home to Maura's. It had been the first time they'd been apart on purpose since their relationship changed, and it left Maura feeling as if Jane was punishing her for being concerned. Jane's brooding was starting to tick Maura off but she had refrained from saying so, but if this continued much longer she would. She was tired and she missed Jane. Turns out Maura had gotten use to having Jane curled up beside her, and without Jane she didn't sleep well.

"Another coffee?" Angela asked with a slight frown as Maura stepped up to the counter to pay for another cup. "You don't normally drink that much coffee, Maura."

"I'm just a little tired." Maura said honestly. "I'm going to finish up a few things and head home soon."

Angela's frown deepened. Reaching out she cupped Maura's cheek and then pressed the back of her hand to Maura's forehead. "Are you coming down with something?"

Maura smiled sweetly at Angela's concern. "No, I'm fine, I promise."

Of course the moment Angela saw Jane walk into the building she called out and motioned for her daughter to come into the café. She told Jane that she was worried that Maura might be coming down with something. She explained that Maura looked tired, and was drinking enough coffee to fill the harbor, which just wasn't like her. Jane wasn't doing much better then Maura in the sleep department, but she was better at dealing with the fatigue so it didn't show on her as clearly as it did on Maura. Jane promised to check in on Maura, but she had to work up to it first. She knew she'd been acting like an ass and their restless nights were totally her fault. By the time she worked up the nerve to go down to the morgue to talk to her girlfriend, Maura had left for the day.

When Jane got to Maura's house she found the blonde sleeping on the sofa. Jane crouched down and brushed at Maura's hair. It was startling at times, the strength of her emotions for Maura. Jane never loved someone, needed, and wanted someone, as much as she did Maura. It was thrilling, it was frightening, and it left Jane breathless.

"Jane?" Maura said softly as her eyes fluttered open.

Jane smiled warmly. "Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Maura looked a little confused at first. She hadn't meant to doze off. "I was waiting on my mother to call." Sitting up she looked over at her open laptop to see if she'd missed the video call from Constance.

"Have you eaten?" Jane asked softly as she moved to sit beside Maura on the couch. Maura shook her head. "How about I grill up some tuna steaks and you can make one of those fancy salads you're so good at?"

"Ok." Maura said softly as she stretched. She was glad Jane was there and she didn't want to push her away again so she wasn't going to question why she'd come back.

Before they got up to start dinner Jane took Maura's hand. "I'm sorry about being an ass the last few days."

"I understand you were upset." Maura said softly.

"But it still hurt you that I stayed away." Jane said, and Maura nodded. Jane held her lover's hand a little more tightly. "I'm sorry. The last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt you."

"If we're in this together Jane then we're in this together." Maura said after a moment to think. "All of it, good, bad, and everything in between. If something or someone hurts you, it hurts me too."

Jane nodded. "You're right. I guess it's just going to take me a moment to get use to sharing everything with you when I'm use to protecting you from all the really crappy shit."

"You weren't exactly protecting me this time, Jane." Maura said softly but firmly.

"I know." Jane said looking embarrassed and ashamed. "I was taking it out on you and for that I'm really sorry."

Maura nodded in understanding and then cupped Jane's face in her hands so she could bring the brunette close and kiss her. "I missed you, Jane." She whispered at the end of the kiss. "I didn't sleep well with you gone."

"I didn't get much sleep either." Jane admitted. She kissed Maura again and then said, "We'll sleep tonight. I'm home."

Maura liked that, she liked that a lot. Hearing Jane say she was home and knowing she meant home was with her, it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. For the first time in her life she was starting to understand how her parents were able to get so caught up in each other, so ensnared by the other one that everything outside the two of them fell away. Unfortunately part of that outside falling away had been her, but that's where the comparison would stop. She wouldn't just love any children she and Jane might have someday; she would be an active part in their lives.

"What are you thinking about?" Jane asked softly as she nuzzled her nose against the soft warmth of Maura's neck.

The blonde blushed. She didn't want to admit to Jane that she'd been thinking of children when they were so new as couple. But she couldn't lie either so she said, "How easy it is for us to get tangled up in each other and forget about everything else."

Jane smiled at that. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"What where you thinking about?" Maura asked, hoping Jane wouldn't push for a deeper conversation on her thoughts.

Jane's smile quickly morphed into a smirk. "Make up sex."

Maura rolled her eyes and playfully slapped Jane's arm as she exclaimed, "Jane!"

In the kitchen a short time later Jane and Maura were working together to get dinner made. Jane was manning the stovetop grill while Maura sliced and diced vegetables at the counter. For a long few minutes both women were quiet, lost in thought as they worked. Then Jane looked up and asked, "What did your parents say when you told them about us? Well, I mean I guess I know you're mom was ok with it. My mother had your mother this close," She held her index finger and thumb about half an inch apart. "To arranging our marriage with or without us finally coming to out senses. But what did your dad say?"

Maura stopped what she was doing and gave that a little thought before turning to look at Jane. "He was relieved."

"Relieved?" Jane asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Maura said with a nod. "I think he was worried that I would either end up alone or with someone who didn't fully understand me and my needs. I think he worried that I would end up in marriage with someone who loved me but ignored me the way he and Mother did." She paused for a moment and then added, "I'm not sure what you said to my Mother, and I still won't pry, but whatever it was has both of my parents feeling guilty about my childhood."

"Good, they should." Jane said with a soft huff and then before Maura could say anything about it she asked, "So he didn't mind that I was another woman?"

Maura shook her head. "It was a little surprising at first, but no he doesn't care that you're another woman. Though, he worries about you being a police officer."

"Yeah," Jane said with a sigh. "It isn't easy being with a cop."

Maura moved closer to Jane and took her hand. "It wasn't easy being the best friend of a cop either. I know what I'm getting myself into, Jane. I'm as prepared as anyone can be."

Later that night in bed, their bodies entwined, their heart rates finally returned to normal, Jane stared up at the ceiling as she played with a lock of Maura's hair. Maura had her head on Jane's chest, listening to the sound of Jane's heartbeat, dozing to the rhythmic up and down of Jane's chest as she breathed. "Maura." Jane said softly into the darkness of the room. "You know I'm more careful now, at work I mean, I'm more careful about what I do because I have a reason to be more careful."

"You do?" Maura asked in a sleepy whisper.

Jane nodded and wrapped her arms around Maura tightly. "Yeah, I do. I have you. I have all these weird new thoughts in my head that make me want to be more careful."

Maura lifted her head so she could look into Jane's eyes. "What kind of weird new thought?"

"Just, you and me, doing things, going places, having things." Jane said vaguely. She was glad it was dark in their bedroom so Maura couldn't see her blush.

The blonde might not have seen it but she could feel the sudden flush of warmth in Jane's skin on her own. "I'm glad you're being more careful Jane." She admitted. "I have things for us to do, places for us to go, and things for us to have in my own thoughts, and I kind of need you around for all of that."

"I promise," Jane whispered before kissing Maura softly. "That as long as it's my power to do so, I will always be around."


	11. Chapter 11

Maura normally loved going to conferences. She thrived on the chance to learn something new and talk about her own recent findings with people who would understand what she was saying. But this was her first conference since she and Jane became girlfriends and her first time leaving Jane's side since taking her mother to rehab at the very start of their relationship, so she was struggling with some pretty deep mixed feelings. As she stepped off the plane and into Heathrow airport Maura had a soft pout on her lips because despite being excited about the conference she was already missing Jane. Pulling her phone out of her purse as she walked to baggage claim she sent Jane a text to let her known she'd arrived in London safe and sound and would call her later after settling into the hotel. After getting her luggage she walked over to where the waiting drivers were to find the one she'd hired for her stay. Since she was staying in the city and driving in London was worse then driving in Manhattan she'd hired a car.

"Mr. Kent?" Maura asked the man holding the sign with her name.

The older gentleman gave a nod. "Doctor Isles?"

Maura nodded and they exchanged the proper information. Mr. Kent took Maura's bags and carried them out to the waiting car. She was staying at the St. James rather then one of the larger luxury hotels so Mr. Kent drove her over there and carried her things up the stairs of the converted Victorian home and into the warm welcoming lobby. Before leaving he made sure she had his card so she could call him when she needed him and then left. After checking in Maura was lead to her suite, the Westminster suit, which had a sitting room, king sized bed, and roof top terrace. Maura decided that since she'd be there for little over a week she wanted to be comfortable. As she looked around the suite, making her way to the terrace Maura wished Jane were there with her. One of the things Maura wanted to do most was travel with Jane. She wanted to show her lover all the places she loved and watch as Jane experienced the world beyond Boston, beyond Massachusetts, and even beyond the United States.

Sinking into the white padding of the black terrace sofa Maura pulled her phone from her pocket and hit the number one, holding it until the speed dial kicked in and dialed Jane's number.

"Rizzoli." Jane answered as she sat back in her desk chair. She'd been grumpy since leaving the airport after seeing Maura off and it showed in the tone of her voice.

Maura raised an eyebrow. "Jane?"

"Hi." Jane said as she sat up and smiled. "I got your text. Are you at the hotel?"

"Yes." Maura answered. "And it's lovely. I wish you'd come with me."

Jane sighed. "Yeah, I know, but once things get into full swing you'll be to busy and caught up in your medical stuff to miss me."

They talked for about ten minutes before Jane heard Maura yawn. She told the blonde to eat and get some sleep and they'd talk tomorrow. Maura told Jane she'd miss her and they exchanged I love yous before hanging up. After ordering dinner Maura emailed her aunt to set up something for later in the week, and then spent the rest of the evening going over the paper she would be presenting on medical forensics. The next morning after a breakfast of tea and scones Maura called Mr. Kent as she gathered up her things and then headed over to the conference center at the Royal College of Physicians. She smiled pleasurably as she checked in and was giving the welcoming packet. She had a little over and hour before the opening meeting so she decided to find a nice place in one of the gardens to look over the information she'd been given.

Sitting on a bench under a shade tree Maura read over the calenderer of events and a few other things before getting to the announcement that there was a change in the key note speaker. Maura went pale as she read the name of the new speaker. Dr. Hope Todd would be replacing the navel pathologist Maura had been hoping to see. Maura hadn't done much of anything with the information Jane had found on her birth mother. She'd been caught up in her relationship with Jane and all the newness in her life that had brought. And there was the fact that she'd been put through a lot with Patrick and she didn't know if she could handle it if things with Hope turned out to be as dramatic. She didn't even know if Hope knew about her the way Patrick did, she'd never gotten up the courage to ask him. There was a slight tremble in her hand as Maura pulled out her phone to call Jane.

"Maura." Jane's voice was sleep laced. "It's barely five in the morning here."

"My mother's here." Maura said, her breath slightly rapid.

Jane groaned. Maura use to hyperventilate all the time when Constance was coming to visit but she'd thought that had stopped since the two had worked things out. "I thought Connie was in rehab for at least another month?"

Maura didn't even bother to correct Jane regarding the nickname her lover had assigned her mother. "Not my Mom, my mother, my birth mother Jane. Hope Todd is speaking at the conference."

That got Jane's full attention. "What? Since when?"

"She's a replacement speaker." Maura explained. "I had no idea she'd be here."

Jane was sitting up in their bed listening to the panic in Maura's voice. "Do you want me to come to London? I'll be on the next flight…"

Maura wanted nothing more then for Jane to come to her but she couldn't ask Jane to do that. "No, no I'll be alright. I mean I don't have to speak with her. It's not like she'd even know who I was."

"True." Jane replied while trying to decide if she were going to go anyway. "Or you could use this as a change to finally meet her."

"I know who she is." Maura said softly. "That's good enough for me. I have you and I'm closer to my real mother, and I have Angela. I don't feel that overwhelming need to meet her anymore."

"Then there's nothing to be afraid of." Jane said gently.

Maura nodded after giving that some thought. "Yes, yes your right Jane. I'm sorry I woke you."

Jane smirked. "I know I'm right." She teased. "And you can wake me whenever you need me baby. Are you sure you don't want me to come over there?"

"I'll be alright." Maura promised. "Though I do miss you."

"I miss you too." Jane replied. "Call me later when you get a chance."

"I will." Maura said. "I love you Jane."

"Love you too, Maur." Jane replied before they hung up.

Jane worried about Maura all day. When Maura called during a break she let Jane know that Hope wouldn't be arriving for another day because her filling in had been such short notice, which was both good and bad. Maura wouldn't have to worry about running into her birth mother unprepared, but on the other hand it would also give her time to freak out. Jane had so much vacation time and sick days saved up that she could take a couple of days off easy, but Maura had insisted that she'd be fine. When she'd asked her mother what she should do Angela's response was to go to Maura right away, but Frankie had a point out that Maura was a big girl who could take of herself. Yes, Maura could take care of herself but Maura still had issues with asking for what she wanted and needed if she thought it would interfere with Jane's wants or needs.

That evening Jane was sitting on the sofa trying to watch the game while eating a slice of pizza when there was a knock on the door. She grumbled as she muted the tv and then got up to answer it. The last person she'd have expected at Maura's door was Agent Dean but there he stood. "What do you want?"

Dean was surprise when Jane answered the door but he wasn't sure why. "Is Doctor Isles at home?"

"No." Jane answered as she blocked the doorway with her body. "What do you want?"

"I need to speak with Doctor Isles." Dean said in his best professional voice.

"She isn't home." Jane replied. "I'll let her know you stopped by."

When Jane went to close the door Dean held out his arm to stop her, his hand slapping against the wood, the sudden stop causing the brass knocker to clack. "This is official, Detective. I'll wait."

"You'll be waiting awhile." Jane said as she gave the man an angry glare. "Maura's out of town until the twenty-fourth."

"Where is she?" Dean asked. "When did she leave?"

Jane crossed her arms over her chest. "What is this about?"

There was a long pause before Agent Dean answered; "Paddy Doyle escaped federal custody this afternoon."

"Fuck." Jane said in that drawn out way she had of saying words when she was suddenly flustered. "Nice going there big bad agent man. How the hell did you manage to let that happen?"

Dean bristled at the implication this was his fault. "I need to speak with Doctor Isles. Where is she?"

"What?" Jane said, getting defensive. "You think she has something to do with this? She's been out of the country since yesterday, she's at a medical conference."

"Where?" Dean asked.

"Narnia." Jane snapped back.

Dean somehow managed not to roll his eyes. "You're impeding a federal investigation Detective Rizzoli."

"You're being an ass hat Special Agent Dean." Jane replied. "Maura isn't here, she hasn't been here, she hasn't talk to Doyle since he was shot, and she has no freaking clue where he is now. She doesn't even know he got away."

"How can you be so sure?" Dean asked.

Without hesitation Jane said, "I can be sure because she's the person I love. We trust each other, we don't keep secrets, and if she'd known anything about Paddy she'd have told me."

"Would you tell me?" Dean asked.

"I wouldn't tell you if you had burning dog shit on your shoe." Jane answered. "I'll let Maura know what's going on. She'll call you as soon as she can."

After closing the door on Dean Jane's mind was made up. She headed right for the bedroom, grabbed a bag from the closest and started shoving clothes into it as she made the calls she needed to make. An hour later Jane was at Logan waiting on her flight to London.

The lecture Hope Todd gave on women's health in first world urban centers was fascinating and it left Maura with a lot she'd like to talk about, but she didn't have the nerve to go to Hope and join a discussion. After the key note address and lecture there was a meet and greet. Maura had been able to focus on what Hope had been talking about medically for the most part, but she did allow herself a few personal thoughts about her birth mother's intelligence and the ease in which she gave her address. She also let herself draw genetic parallels between herself and Hope. It was more then evident that Maura looked like her birth mother, the resemblance was rather striking, and more unnerving then she'd expected. In every other way Maura was clearly Constance Isles daughter, but standing across the room watching Hope Todd, she could finally see herself in someone physically. For the first time in her life she could answer the questions that lingering in the back of her mind. Where had the shape of her eyes and nose come from? Did someone out there smile the way she smiled? Where did her cheekbones and hair color come from? The answer to those questions and more stood on the other side of the room chuckling at something someone said.

Maura walked over to the refreshment table to get a cup of coffee and something to nibble on. There was a discussion on pediatric forensics that afternoon that she was looking forward too, and then she'd return to her hotel room to get ready for her lecture tomorrow. When she turned around after picking up a small bowl fruit and cheese a soft squeak of surprise bubbled up in her throat as her hazel eyes went wide.

"Hello Maura." Hope Todd said softly.

It took a moment for the shock of suddenly finding herself standing face to face with her birth mother to wear off. "Hello Doctor Todd." She managed to say in soft, professional voice.

Maura was about to make a comment on Hope's lecture when Hope cut her off, "It's startling." She said softly. "You look so much like my nieces." The surprise and uncertainty flickered in Maura's eyes. "I know you know who I am. I'm not sure if you know I know who you are."

"How long have you know?" Maura asked as she gripped the coffee cup in her hand tightly to keep it from trembling.

"Patrick called me shortly after the first time you met him." Hope answered. "He called to tell me that you were good, safe, happy, a brilliant doctor." Hope smiled. It was a smile Maura had often seen in the mirror. "And that you'd asked about me."

"He wouldn't tell me who you were." Maura said. Her emotions were a tornado ripping her apart on the inside. "Not until he thought he was dying."

Hope nodded, she knew that. "He was trying to protect me."

"From me?" Maura asked, a flicker of anger in her tone.

"From the past." Hope answered.

Before Maura could say anything one of the conference coordinators came over with a fake professional smile plastered on his face. "Excuse the interruption Doctors, but Doctor Todd, the CNO of the NHS would like to have a word with you. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course Doctor Langley." Hope said before looking at Maura. "I'm staying at The Dukes if you'd like to finish our conversation over dinner, Doctor Isles."

Maura simply nodded. "I'll keep that in mind Doctor Todd. Thank you."

Maura had been distracted for the rest of the afternoon and it didn't help that she couldn't get a hold of Jane. Speaking to Hope had rattled Maura, she hadn't been ready for it, and she was over thinking the encounter, analyzing everything, and she couldn't make herself stop. She had so many questions she wanted to ask but wasn't sure if she really wanted to know the answers. Standing on the terrace looking out over London Maura had just dialed Jane's number again when the doorbell rang. Making her way inside she stopped to set her wine glass down on the table before making her over to the door. "Jane!"

"Are you ok?" Jane asked, as she looked Maura over as if she expected her to be wounded or something.

"I'm fine, Jane." Maura said, though her eyes told a different story. Throwing her arms around Jane, Maura hugged her tightly after giving her a deep kiss. Feeling the tension Jane's lithe body she could tell that something had really upset Jane so she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you're alright." Jane said as she slowly started to relax, her hands coming up to cup Maura's face.

Maura smiled softly at the concern in Jane's eyes. "I'm alright, a little shaken up but alright."

Jane frowned as she took Maura's hand and led her over to the sofa. "What's got you so shaken up?"

"I spoke to my birth mother." Maura answered. "What's got you so shaken up?"

"Oh." Jane said as she put her arm around Maura. "It didn't go well?"

Maura shrugged. "It was a brief encounter but she did invite me over to her hotel."

"Are you going?" Jane asked.

Again Maura shrugged and then she repeated, "What's upset you, Jane? Why did you come all the way to London?"

"I was worried about you." Jane said honestly. The look Maura gave her told her that Maura knew there was more. Jane sighed softly. "Paddy Doyle's on the loose."

"Oh." Maura said softly. "How?"

Jane shrugged. "I didn't get the details from Agent Dean. I was to busy giving him a hard time because he wanted to question you as if you a criminal or something."

"He hasn't contacted me." Maura said with a questioning look.

Jane smirked. "I didn't tell him where you were only that I'd have you call him. Well, no, that's only partly true. I told him you were in Narnia."

Maura shook her head and chuckled softly. Then she snuggled into Jane and closed her eyes. "I'm glad you're here Jane."

After calling Agent Dean and answering his questions about Paddy Doyle Maura got ready to head over to The Dukes to have drinks with her birth mother. Having Jane there had given her the courage to face the woman. When she and Jane walked into the hotel's bar they found Hope sitting at a corner table waiting on them. Maura had a death grip on Jane's hand that was making the taller woman hide a wince as they approached.

"Hello Maura." Hope said as she stood to greet her adult daughter. "You must be Jane Rizzoli."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Yes, must be."

"Patrick told me about you." Hope explained. "He said that you were Maura's friend."

"She's my girlfriend." Maura said softly.

Hope raised an eyebrow and it made her look so much like Maura it was weird for Jane to see. The older woman looked at the two younger women and then nodded, smiling a tight little smile. "Please, both of you join me."

Maura and Jane slipped into the chairs across from Hope. There was a lingering silence between the three women, broken only when Maura and Jane gave their drink orders to the waitress. Maura wasn't sure what to say or what to ask first and Hope was waiting for her to start. Finally it was Jane who asked, "You knew about Maura?"

Hope nodded. "No details, not until recently, but Patrick kept me up to date on her."

That gave Maura the nudge she needed to ask, "Why? Why did you give me up?"

"I was eighteen." Hope said, not seeing a reason to beat around the bush. "I was unmarried, and your father," She paused. "Well, we couldn't give you the kind of life you deserved. We couldn't even promise to keep you safe. Patrick promised me that the couple he gave you to could give you the kind of life neither of us could. He said they were a family of influence and wealth. He said you would want for nothing and be safe. It was the right thing to do, Maura. It was the best thing for you, and I don't regret doing it."

Maura sat there for a moment taking in what Hope was saying and what she herself was feeling. Finally after a few long moments of silence she said, "I love my parents. I wouldn't change my life even if I could. So, thank you."

The three women talked for a little while longer. Maura found out she had a half sister named Caillin Martin who was eighteen years younger, an aunt, uncles, and cousins. Once of her cousins was a doctor, a surgeon in fact, so medicine seemed to run in the family. They talked about Hope's work, about her acquaintance with the doctor who couldn't make it to the conference, who she'd meet though another cousin who'd passed a few years back. It was odd for Maura to think about the sudden blood ties she had to perfect strangers. Maura told Hope about her work, about her life in Boston, and about Jane. It wasn't anything to deep and meaningful, it wasn't the kind of conversation she'd have with Constance or even Angela, it was simply three people who have just met chatting about their respective lives.

In front of the hotel later that night while they waited on the car Jane took Maura's hand and asked, "Are you ok?"

Maura nodded as she gave Jane a soft smile. "Yes, I'm ok. Actually I'm good, Jane, I'm really good. I feel like I can finally close this chapter of my life and move on."

Jane smiled back at Maura before kissing her quickly on the lips. "That's great Maura."

Across the street Patrick Doyle watched as his daughter and her friend climbed into the car that had pulled up. He waited until they were long go before crossing the street and entering the hotel.


	12. Chapter 12

The rest of their trip to London had been very pleasant. While Maura had finished up at the conference, Jane looked up an old police academy friend who'd migrated to England a few years after their graduation. When they were together they explored the city a bit, and Jane got a kick out of meeting Constance's sister, who was very unlike Constance. She and Jane hit it off instantly and that had made Maura very happy because she'd been close to her aunt growing up. While her parents were traveling it had been her aunt who looked out for her while she'd been in boarding school, and on school holidays it had been her aunt's home where she would stay. Before getting on the plane to head home Maura and Jane promised each other they'd return to the UK for a proper visit sometime soon. Maura liked that she'd ignited a desire to travel in Jane and spent the whole flight home planning out future trips.

It had been a long flight and as they made their way through the courtyard gate of Maura's house all they could think about were showers and crawling into their own bed, but the moment they stepped into the courtyard those thoughts were wiped away. Jane noticed the busted stain glass window and her arm flew out to her side to stop Maura from walking any further into the yard. Dark, alert eyes scanned the courtyard, the windows, and the door. "Stay here." Jane commanded in a gravely whisper. Maura looked at her busted window, shocked, and just nodded.

Jane moved carefully towards the front door, which was ajar, her hand going to her hip for her gun. She made a face, her nimble body doing that little jerking motion that was Jane's version of stomping her foot in a tantrum. She didn't have her gun, her gun was in a lock box inside the house in the back of Maura's massive closest. Stepping closer to the door she looked over her shoulder to make sure Maura was still standing by the gate and mouthed, "Stay put!" before using her elbow to push open the door. The living room and kitchen were trashed, completely ransacked. Chairs were knocked over, drawers were pulled out, pillows tossed to the floor, the tv dismounted from the wall, the doors of cabinets left open, knickknacks moved, some were smashed. The floor was littered with glass, papers, busted pieces of wood. Jane's heart was thundering in her chest as she slowly made her way through the house. Concern for Jo Friday and Bass, anger over this kind of assault on their personal space, and worry for Maura who would be heartbroken when she saw their home like this. There was also the overwhelming fear that this had something to do with something very bad, or someone one.

When Maura stepped into her home anger swelled in her chest as her eyes welled with tears. A soft gasp tumbled over her lips before her hands flew up to cover her mouth. Who would do this? Why would someone do this? Despite the much darker things she saw on a daily bases at work Maura still found herself asking why someone would do something like this to someone else, and what had she done to someone for this to do this to her?

"I thought I told you to stay outside?" Jane said when she came back into the living room with her gun in her hand.

"Jane, who would do this?" Maura asked as she continued taking things in. Then she gasped when her shoe crunched some glass. "Bass! Jo! Are they ok?"

Jane nodded as she slipped her gun in the waistband of her jeans so she could pull Maura into her arms. "They're in Bass' sunroom. They're fine. He's a little freaked out and Jo's shaking like a cold Chihuahua but they're ok."

"Is there anything missing?" Maura asked as she took in the comfort of Jane's embrace.

"Doesn't look like it." Jane said as she pulled out her phone to call Korsak. After calling him and telling him what happen Jane called to check on her mother. It was late enough in the day that she'd have been at the café for hours. If Angela had been home she'd have seen something or heard something going on in Maura's house. So if they could ask Angela what time she'd left that morning they could get a time frame. When she hung up she had an odd look on her face.

"What's wrong Jane?" Maura asked as she tried to sooth Jo Friday and Bass. As soon as Jane had let her go she'd made her way back to them, with Jane following as she spoke to Angela. From where she was crouched on the floor, one arm hold Jo while she used the other hand to stroke Bass' shell, she looked up at Jane, watching her facial expressions as she talked to her mother.

"Ma wasn't home last night." Jane said, looking confused.

Maura raised an eyebrow. "Where was she?"

"She wouldn't say." Jane answered. "But she's on her way here now."

When Korsak, Frost and the crime scene unit got there everyone looked at the mess Maura's house was in with shock and anger. Maura was one of their own, which meant if you messed with her you messed with the whole homicide unit if not the whole damn BPD. While the CSU techs did their thing looking for prints and other evidence, Korsak asked the girls some questions. Jane told him what time they got home to which he said, "So it could have happened at any time between nine last night and one this afternoon."

"Why nine last night?" Jane asked with narrowed eyes.

"That's what time Vince picked me up." Angela said carefully.

Jane looked between her mother and her old partner turned sergeant with narrow eyes and a what-the-fuck look on her face. She was about to go off on them, gearing up for an interrogation, when she felt Maura's hand on her arm. That simple touch calmed her down enough to just huff softly like a caged bull.

"While I was in London, before Jane joined me, Agent Dean was here." Maura said calmly. "He said my father escaped custody."

Vince nodded. "Doyle's rivals, even his own people, could have been looking for something."

"Hell the feds could have been looking for something." Frost added.

"Whoever it was knew enough to kill the alarm, to act when no one was around, and to neutralize the pets." Vince said.

Frost gave him a look. "A rat dog and a turtle?"

"Hey!" Jane glared, needing to take her emotions out on someone and picking poor Frost as her target. "Jo's a Cairn/Silky mix, and she's a lot tougher then she looks. And Bass is am African Spurred tortoise not a damn turtle." Four sets of amused eyes were staring at her. "What? I listen when Maura talks!"

"My guess would be they're looking for Doyle." Vince continued.

"In Maura's house?" Jane asked. "No one knows about her connection to him expect for us and Dean."

"Dean has been poking around a lot lately." Frost said with a slight shrug. "I wouldn't put it past the feds to tear a place apart like this if they thought they'd find something. They're all a bunch of glory hounds."

Once the CSU team and her partners were gone Jane wrapped her arms around Maura and held her close. "Pack a fresh bag. We'll stay at my apartment for a few days. You can call in your cleaning people about getting this place cleaned up, I'll call my brothers to load up Bass so we can take him with us."

Maura simply nodded; to numb to really let this all upset her. She lingered in Jane's arms for a moment more before pulling away and heading for the bedroom.

Once they were alone Jane turned towards her mother. "How come you weren't at home last night?"

"Jane." Angela said with a soft sigh.

"What did Korsak pick you up for?" Jane continued.

"We had a late dinner together and then went to a movie." Angela answered honestly.

Jane narrowed her eyes at her mother. "That sounds a awful lot like a date."

Angela simply nodded. "Because it was a date."

The tall dark haired detective stood there staring at her mother in complete shock. It took several minutes before she could form words again. "You and Korsak?"

"He's a good man, Janie." Angela said firmly, a ghost of a smile on her face. "And I enjoy spending time with him."

The thought that her mother hadn't been home at all last night ran through Jane's mind and she shuddered. "I don't need this shit right now." She mumbled before storming off to join Maura in the bedroom. When she stepped into the trashed room Maura was sitting on the bed crying softly. Jane walked over and wrapped her arms around Maura, pulling her close, and holding her as if she could protect her from the world just by putting her arms around her.

The next morning as soon as Jane got into the squad room she wanted to know what Korsak and Frost had found out about the break in at Maura's, but when they arrived that morning she and Maura discovered that the squad was being looked at by IAD, then they were called in on a new case. On their way to the crime scene Korsak told her, "IAD thinks we're dirty cops."

"But we're not." Jane said looking confused.

"They think we're in with Doyle." Korsak said with a shrug.

"That's bullshit." Jane huffed.

The body was found in a heap of garbage in an alley, which was slick with blood and garbage slime. "Careful." Jane said to Maura as they made their way over to the victim. "I really wish you wouldn't wear shoes like that to crime scenes. One of these days you're going to slip and break an ankle."

"Though I appreciate your concern Jane." Maura said sweetly. "I can walk just fine in these shoes in any terrain."

While Maura crouched down to examine the body Jane asked, "Who called it in?"

"Kid working in the bakery." Frost said as he checked his notes. "Came out to throw out the morning trash and there he was."

"Three gun shot wounds." Maura said as she looked at the body and then at the area around her. "From the amount of blood I'd say he was killed right here."

Jane crouched down and looked the man over herself. "Prison tats, that should help id him. Did he have anything on him?"

"No." Frost answered. "Nothing."

"I'll run finger prints as soon as we get him back." Maura said as she stood up.

When they got back to the station Jane, Korsak, and Frost headed up to the homicide unit. Maura had brought her own car so she was driving back on her own. Because IAD was on their asses they had to be careful to do this and every case until they backed off by the book, so when they got upstairs they began the paperwork and started going over what they knew so far while waiting on Maura's preliminary reports. Since they didn't have much to go on yet Jane looked up from her paperwork and asked, "Did you find out anything on the break in?"

"We got a parcel finger print and a piece of a latex glove." Frost answered.

"So far no hit on the print and the lab's checking the piece of latex." Korsak added. "We'll figure this out Jane." He promised.

Jane nodded, but she couldn't force herself to relax. She hadn't heard from Maura since they'd gotten back and was about to get up to head downstairs when a man in a suit walked in wearing the stink of a rat. Korsak and Frost had already been questioned by IAD, so when the officer walked into the room they both glared at him as he walked up to Jane. "Detective Jane Rizzoli?"

"Yeah, that's me." Jane said. She fought the urge to ask if he was the rat looking into her unit but just barley. "Are you Collins?"

The man nodded. "Lets talk."

"Fine, but make it quick. I have open cases to work." Jane said as she got up and walked off to interrogation with the IAD officer. An hour later when Jane walked back to her desk she was in the worse mood imaginable. Matters only got worse when Agent Dean walked in. Jane groaned at the sight of him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Where's Doctor Isles?" Dean asked, not beating around the bush.

"We're not attached at the hip." Jane said with a huff. "She's downstairs working an autopsy."

Dean shook his head. "There's a body still in the bag on the table but Doctor Isles isn't there."

Concern bubbled up in Jane's chest and without a word to anyone she jumped to her feet and dashed for the stairs. Sure enough when she got to the morgue their body from that morning was there but no Maura. After checking the computer to see if Maura had checked back in, a security upgrade made after Doyle kidnapped her right out of the morgue, Jane started calling her cell phone. "Fuck." She said when there was still no answer. "I saw her get into her car before we left the crime scene. I saw her pull away from the curb."

"Did she have something else to do?" Dean asked. "An appointment? Lunch? A shoe sale?"

Jane gave Dean a look that said she was trying to mentally make his head explode. "No." She growled. "No, she would have come right back here to get started on the case."

"Doyle?" Dean asked.

Jane shook her head. "She hasn't heard from him." Jane was quiet for a moment, thinking, and then she shook her head. "Something's wrong, something's seriously wrong."

Dean could see the fear in Jane's eyes and despite still feeling thrown over for Isles he couldn't deny what he saw. Reaching out her put his hand on Jane's shoulder. "We'll find her, Rizzoli."

The last thing Maura remembered was getting into her car and pulled away from the curb at the crime scene, and then stopping at an animal feed store a couple of blocks away. Everything after that until this moment was a blank. As she slowly came too she found herself unable to move. Slowly it sank in, she was tired to chair. Opening her eyes she peered into the dark, the only light in the room was around her; beyond that small circle of light was darkness. She moaned softly, her muscles ached, her head hurt. "Jane." She whispered softly.

"Hello Doctor Isles." A voice said from the dark.

Maura lifted her head and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the voice. "Hello? Who's there? What's going on?"

"Where is he Doctor Isles?" The voice asked.

"Where is who?" Maura asked.

"Don't play with me Doctor Isles." The voice snapped. "Where is your father?"

Maura groaned as she tested her bindings. They were tight and secure; no way she could get out of them. "Switzerland with my mother." Maura answered.

There was a sound like an angry growl followed by a fist hitting something metal. "No! You're real father Doctor Isles!"

"He is my real father!" Maura answered.

The voice felt closer but was still unseen. "Where is Patrick Doyle Doctor Isles?"

"I don't know!" Maura said angrily. She was really starting to wish she hadn't been curious about her birth parents. They, he, had caused her nothing but trouble since finding him.

There was a long pause and then a flash like from a camera. "You'd better hope that someone can find him to let him know his little girl is in danger, or someone else is going to have to take care of that ridiculous pet of yours."

"It was you!" Maura said to the voice. "You were in my home!"

There was no reply and the space around her suddenly seemed empty. Maura closed her eyes and took a deep breath to clam herself down. She tried to find something, a sound, a scent, anything that would help her figure out where she was. From what she could take in she was somewhere near the harbor. She wiggled against her bindings again and now that she was more aware she felt the soreness in her upper right arm. She must have been pricked with a hypodermic needle, shot up with something that knocked her out.

They'd gone back to the crime scene and then took every routine possible back to the precinct. Now they were reviewing traffic cam video, watching as Maura's blue Prius drove along until it entered a dead zone, a cluster of blocks were the traffic cams were down. "Lets see those blocks." Jane demanded and then watched the screen as Frost pulled up a map. Jane looked it over carefully looking for something, anything. "There." She pointed. "That street, there's a feed store she goes to, to get Jo and Bass special treats."

Jane checked with the people at feed store and got a positive id that Maura had been there. They knew her last known whereabouts that was something at least. Frost went back to looking at traffic cam video to see if he could find Maura's car again but nothing came up.

"Whoever took her has to know where there's no surveillance." Frost said.

"Who would know that?" Jane asked.

"Sector cops, MassDOT…" Frost began.

"FBI?" Korsak asked while glaring at Dean.

"If we needed too." Dean answered as if Korsak hadn't meant to be aggressive towards him.

Collins who came in to snoop a little more interrupted their conversation with more questions. Jane could tell he was dead set on tying them to Doyle. He even started in on Dean. None of them, not a single one, mentioned Maura's ties to Doyle, and yet when he heard that Maura was missing Collins made the comment that maybe she wasn't missing, maybe she'd run off with Daddy. That bothered Jane even after he left. How did he know about Maura and Doyle? It wasn't public knowledge and there was no evidence, Doyle had gotten rid of every thing that tied Maura to her brother, which would have tied her to Doyle.

"So how did he know about Maura's link to Doyle?" She asked out loud.

"I got something. You're not going to believe this." Frost said from behind his computer in the Brick. He pulled up the results he'd just gotten. "The parcel print belonged to Mark Collins." He explained as he typed, pulling up information on Collins.

"IAD trashed Maura's?" Jane asked with a frown.

Korsak read over the information Frost was posting on the screen, his eyes going wide, "His father was Mark Donahue?" Everyone turned to him for an explanation. "Donahue was a dirty cop working for the Sullivan's, rival's to the family Doyle was with, he was killed by Doyle a good thirty years ago."

"Damnit!" Jane said as she did that little shimmy that said she was stomping her foot. Then she took off at a run to catch up with Collins. She burst into the stairwell and made it two flights down when she suddenly stopped.

"Looking for me Jane?" Collins asked.

Before Jane could pull her own gun she was slammed into a wall, Collin's had his arm across her throat, and his gun at her temple. "I'm not going to hurt you." He told her. "I need you to deliver a message for me. Tell Patrick Doyle that if he wants to see his little girl alive again he'll come to me."

"If you've hurt her I swear to god I will kill you myself." Jane spat.

"Are you threatening an IAD officer Detective?" Collins teased.

Jane growled. "I'm threatening the twisted asshole who made the mistake of taking what's mine."

Collins laughed. "So the rumors about you two are true then? Interesting. I'll have to put that in my report." He pulled away from Jane but kept his gun trained on her head. Reaching into his pocket he tossed a picture at her. Then he slipped out of the stairwell.

Picking up the picture Jane's heart stopped. "Maura."

Maura could feel the skin on her wrists tear as she tried to free herself. She'd screamed for help but no one came, she'd tried over and over to get free but couldn't. The only thing she could do was have faith in Jane. She knew that Jane would find her, would come for her, she always did.

"You'd better hope your girlfriend calls dear old dad." The voice said.

"Jane doesn't know where he is either." Maura said honestly.

"Do you really expect me to believe that he's not still watching you Doctor Isles?" The voice asked. "I've been watching Doyle for years and do you know what I noticed? He's been watching you for years. I couldn't quite figure out why until his bastard son was found dead, but I guess that's when you figured it out too, wasn't it Doctor Isles? Must have come as quite the shock for someone like you, little miss high society, to find out you came from nothing but common Boston Irish trash, a thug, a murder, a cop killer."

Maura closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep quiet. Cop killer?

"Well, he'll find out sooner or later." The voice continued. "That I have his little girl. We just have to wait. Then I'll finish off what Detective Rizzoli started. It's a good thing your girlfriend wasn't trying to kill him, I would have been really upset if I'd been cheated out of what's mine by right."

"You're going to kill him?" Maura asked.

There was a long pause. "Now now Doctor Isles. Do you want me to tell you something that I'll have to kill you for knowing?"

They looked over everything about Collins they could find. He specialized in rooting out cops with ties to Boston's mob families. It also appeared that he'd been after Doyle for a long time. When Dean suggested they use this to draw Doyle out of hiding Jane nearly sent him through a window. Tensions and emotions were running high when Jane suddenly had a thought. "He wants to kill Doyle for killing his father, right? Where did Doyle kill Mark Donahue?"

Frost pulled up the information. "On the water front. It use to be a warehouse but now it's some high end condo townhouse complex."

"We start looking there." Jane said firmly and then mumbled. "I'm really starting to fucking hate warehouses."

They were able to narrow down their search to a cluster of townhouses where the old warehouse was. They'd just been built and weren't even on the market yet. The area was deserted because there was still some construction going on, a park, which meant that been the park and the waterfront the whole area was secluded. They had to get this right. If they went into the wrong house he could kill Maura. It was Korsak who thought of looking at the electric meters to see if one was moving faster then the rest, and there was. That's the house they went into first.

Just as they burst in Collins was coming up from the basement. "No! No! You're supposed to be Doyle! You were supposed to tell him not come yourself!" Collins pulled his gun, raised it.

Jane fired first. Collins fell. Maura screamed from the basement. Jane went running. There sat Maura in the darkened basement, tied to a chair. "Maura."

"Jane." Maura said softly, her heart thundering in her chest. She'd heard the sounds of people in the house and she was praying it was Jane. It was all she could do not to cry, especially at the sound of gunfire, but she couldn't be one hundred percent sure it was Jane, so she'd kept quiet just in case. When she finally saw that it was Jane a soft sob bubbled past Maura's lips. Jane untied her and then caught her when she tried to stand, her legs wobbly from being tied up so long. "I got you."

She shot a cop, a bad cop, a crazy cop, but still she shot a cop. So Jane was on paid leave until the investigation was over. She was sitting on the sofa in the living room of Maura's house, neat, clean, no signs of what had happen anywhere, when there was a knock on the door. It was a delivery for her. It was a bottle of Jameson whiskey, a reserve label, with a note.

"I knew my little girl was in good hands and for what it's worth you have my blessing."

Jane stared at the note from Paddy Doyle. The man had been nothing but trouble since coming into their lives, and she hoped he would keep his distance. But as she cracked open the bottle and poured the dark Irish whiskey into a tumbler she'd grabbed from the kitchen, something in his note added to the weight of her thoughts. She and Maura had been through so much in the last year and this latest incident was just more proof that anything could happen, that life was unpredictable, and that she didn't want to waste anymore time not having Maura in her life completely. For the first time in her adult life, hell truth be for the first time since she was five, Jane Rizzoli was actually thinking about…

"Where did that come from?" Maura asked as she joined Jane on the sofa and picked up the bottle.

"Ireland I would imagine." Jane said with a smirk, which made Maura roll her eyes.

"My father likes Jameson reserve." Maura said as she poured herself a glass. "Mother pretends not to like it but she'd found of it as well. I must have gotten this the last time she came to visit."

"Musta." Jane said as she put her arm around Maura. Her thoughts, for now, centering on the present and the feel of the beautiful blonde pressed so close to her own body.


	13. Chapter 13

Sitting on a bench looking out over the harbor Jane let her thoughts rush around in her head. For the last couple of days she'd been preoccupied with some pretty big feelings about her life and where it was going. Maura had noticed that Jane seemed to be lost in her head lately and asked if everything was alright, Jane reassured her that it was but she knew she couldn't keep Maura out of the loop for long. This involved her too, it would only be fair to tell her, but Jane needed to work things out a little more. At the sound of someone coming towards her Jane tore her gaze from the passing boats and smiled as she watched Tommy walk towards her with a paper tray of coffees and a white bakery box.

"Coffee and cannoli?" Jane asked as Tommy sat beside her. "Don't tell Frankie but you're totally my favorite brother."

Tommy laughed as he set the box between them and then accepted the sandwich Jane had brought for him. "I already knew that and so does he."

Of course she loved both of her brothers, Jane didn't play favorites, but it was easier to talk to Tommy about certain things. She and Tommy had lived through some pretty hard knocks in their lives that Frankie just hasn't. Though she knew that the longer her little brother was a cop the more he would understand what she and Tommy already understood and that made Jane sad. She really wished that at least one of them could go through life without battle scars, but it just wasn't meant to be.

"So what's on your mind?" Tommy asked when they'd both finished about half their sandwiches.

"What makes you think there's something on my mind?" Jane asked. "Can't I just want to have lunch with my baby brother?"

Tommy gave his sister a look that said he wasn't buying it.

"Ok fine." Jane said with a huff as she gave up the rest of her sandwich for a cannoli. "I've had something on my mind, something I want to do, something I know I will do, but I just need to gear myself up for it."

"What do you want to do?" Tommy asked before stuffing his mouth with creamy sweet ricotta and crunchy pastry.

Jane didn't hesitate. "Marry Maura."

Tommy choked on his dessert.

Jane patted her brother's back as he coughed up the bits of fried pastry that went down wrong. "Bad idea?"

The youngest Rizzoli soothed his throat with some coffee before answering, "No, Janie, no, it's the best idea you've ever had!"

"So great it shocked you into a slapstick take?" Jane asked with eyes full of uncertainty.

"Jane, it's not like that." Tommy said gently as he looked into his sister's dark eyes. "It's just that you've always said you didn't want to get married. Since you were like fourteen you've sworn you would never get married."

Jane sighed and gave her shoulders a little shrug. "That was before." She admitted. "That was back when I thought marriage meant settling for a man who would either expect me to give up being a cop or grow to resent it. Either way any marriage I could picture ended in divorce."

"But now you don't see it that way?" Tommy asked. He knew his sister needed him to steer her towards what she already knew, that she wanted a life with Maura.

"Maura gets me, she understands me in and out of the job, and she knows what my job means to me." Jane said. "It's really freaking annoying sometimes but it's comforting too. She makes me feel…"

Tommy gave her a moment to find the word but when it didn't come he said, "She makes you feel home, like you fit, like everything finally makes sense."

Jane looked at her brother, a little startled by his insight, and then nodded. "Yeah."

"So why haven't you asked her yet?" Tommy asked before going back to eating.

"I don't know." Jane said with another shrug of her shoulders. She used the time it took to take a bite of cannoli and a swig of coffee to think. "I guess I'm just worried, maybe even a little scared."

"About what?" Tommy asked.

"Eww! Tommy!" Jane said as she smacked him in the shoulder. "Man that's nasty! Don't talk with your mouth full like that! Don't be a pig!" She rolled her eyes at the sheepish yet innocent little boy look he gave her. Then she sighed and said, "I don't know. What if Maura says no? And what will Ma think?"

"Maura loves you Janie." Tommy said. "She won't say no. And Ma? Ma will be thrilled. Are you kidding? She'll be on cloud nine when she finds out she gets to marry you off."

"To another woman?" Jane pointed out.

"To the person you love." Tommy said seriously. "And to a person who loves you as much if not more then Ma does."

"Pop won't like it." Jane said softly.

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, well, fuck Pop."

"Tommy!" Jane scolded.

Tommy shook his head to stop her. "You get to be happy, Janie, and no one gets to keep you from it. His issues are his issues; don't let them hold you back. Ask your woman to marry you, everyone else but the two of you be damned, and then go and make lots of super smart little babies so Ma will get off my back."

Jane sat there and looked at her baby brother for a really long minute before finally smiling at him. "Thanks Tommy."

Tommy blushed at the way his sister was looking at him. "Next time you can buy the cannolis."

Jane thought about what Tommy said for a day or so before deciding that there was one more thing she needed to do before she committed to the idea. She needed just one more little bit of reassurance before she took one of the biggest risks of her life. Sitting beside her mother on the sofa in the guesthouse Jane was only half paying attention to whatever movie Angela had put on for them to watch. Maura was at some smarty-pants book club thing so Jane decided tonight was a good night to talk to her Ma, but she didn't want to risk Maura walking in on them so movie night was in the guesthouse. Maura always knocked before coming into what she conceded Angela's home, even though she owned it.

"Ma?" Jane said suddenly as both Rizzoli women looked up at the screen.

"Hmm?" Angela replied.

"Are you really ok with this thing between me and Maura?" Jane asked softly.

Angela was startled by the question. Picking up the remote she turned off the television and then turned to look at her daughter. "What? Why are you asking me this again? Jane you know I'm ok with you and Maura. I've never seen either of you as happy as you've been since you've been together. What's going on?"

Jane bite her lip for a moment before looking at her mother and saying, "I want to ask Maura to marry me, and being ok with me dating Maura, or living with her, or doing anything of that life stuff together, and being ok with me marrying her are two different things."

"Oh Jane." Angela sighed as her eyes began to get watery. "Oh Jane you're getting married!"

"Um, well, I kinda have to ask Maura first." Jane said, a little freaked out by the tears welling in her Ma's eyes.

"You haven't asked her yet?" Angela asked.

Jane shook her head. "I need to know you'd be ok with it. I mean, marriage is kind of a big deal, ya know, being a sacrament and everything."

Angela got up from the couch and disappeared down the hall leading to her bedroom. Several minutes later she came back with a small box, an antique ring box, in her hand. She sat down beside her daughter again and then held out the box to Jane.

Jane looked between her mother and the box with huge eyes. She knew that box; it was an old box, wooden with a little button on it that you pressed to release the latch. She knew what was in the box and it was making her eyes burn with tears. "Ma." She looked up to meet Angela's eyes. "Ma, that's Nonna's ring."

"She left it to you Janie." Angela said softly as she pressed the button and popped open the box. Nestled inside was her mother's engagement ring. It was a simple ring, an oval diamond in a white gold filigree crown with two side diamonds. When her mother had had it appraised for insurance reasons the man had said it was an Edwardian antique circa 1910, all Angela knew was that her father had worked hard to save up to buy the ring from a pawn shop. The ring never left her mother's finger, from the moment her father slipped it on her finger until the day she died, when she took it off, handed it to Angela and said, "Give this to my Janie when she is older so she will know the happiness I have had."

"I was just waiting for the right time." Angela said softly as Jane continued to stare at the ring, tears rolled down her cheeks. Angela lifted her free hand to wipe them away. "You can do what you want with it, keep it in a jewelry box, or wear it, or, ya know, it would look really pretty on Maura's finger."

"Ma." Jane whispered, her voice cracking softly.

Angela closed the ring box and put it in Jane's hands before pulling her daughter into a hug. "Marriage is special Janie, and so is what you and Maura have together. If it's my blessing you need to go ahead and ask her, then you have it baby."

Jane let the tears continue to roll down her cheeks as she whispered, "Thanks Ma."

Ok so there were two more things she needed before she could ask Maura to marry her. Hearing her mother say she had her blessing made Jane think she needed to ask some else for theirs as well. So she waited until Maura was in the shower to video call Constance, who was just as thrilled as Angela when Jane asked if it would be all right with her and Professor Isles if she asked Maura to marry her. Now she had everyone's resounding yes but Maura's. So Jane began planning. She wanted this to be perfect, and romantic, and everything a woman like Maura would have dreamed about.

What was that old saying? The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray? Apparently that holds true for girl cops too. A romantic dinner at one of Boston's most upscale Mediterranean restaurants was cut short when they got the call about a dead kid in a garage truck. Then there was the tasting tour of a local winery, nothing happened there because Jane was to busy trying not to hit the guy who'd dated Maura once, about five years ago, who kept asking if she was available despite the fact that Maura and Jane both repeatedly told him they were a couple, and therefore together, thereby making Maura not single. Jane thought for sure a weekend getaway to the Isles house in Martha's Vineyard would be the place. She had it all worked out, a nice little walk on the beach at sunset, she'd suddenly stop and drop to her knee. Of course they'd only been walking for about five minutes when their cell phones started blowing up with texts and calls from Frankie and Tommy. Apparently Angela was having a break down over hearing the news that Frank Sr. had knocked up his bimbo.

"Argh!" Jane groaned as she fell onto the sofa between her brothers. "Why is this so hard?"

"Because you're trying to hard, Janie." Frankie said. "Everything about you and Maura has been natural. Stop trying to force it. When the moment is meant to happen it'll happen."

Jane mumbled and groaned and pouted. What Frankie said made sense but she didn't want it to. She didn't want to wait; she wanted to make things happen. "I should just send her a text."

"Do you want to spend your honeymoon on the couch?" Tommy teased. "Let it happen natural but don't be cavalier about it. You still need to woo her."

Dark eyebrows rose as Jane glared at her baby brother. "Cavalier? Woo? Are you actually using that word a day calendar Maura got you?"

"Shut up." Tommy replied as he shoved her, sending her bouncing into Frankie, who shoved her back the other way. This lead to Jane pushing both of them at the same time and before long they were in the middle of a shoving war.

"Hey!" Angela scolded when she walked into the room. "You three knock that off! Jane, leave your brothers alone!"

"They started it!" Jane protested.

Frankie had been right about how things between her and Maura had always been natural. Their friendship, the progression of their relationship, it all happened with an instinctive kind of flow. So Jane stopped pushing, she stopping trying to force things, to plan them to this perfect kind of point that was impossible to reach. She was going to let it just happen when it's meant to.

Sitting in their booth at the Dirty Robber Maura couldn't stop giggling. She'd seen a lot in her line of work, including terminal erections, most often in hanging victims, but this was the first time she'd had a still living, fully erect man on her table. He didn't have anything to do with the case they'd been working, he'd been believed to have had a stroke, but thinking about standing there with Jane when this dead man suddenly came alive kept making her giggle. Jane had been making crude jokes about the 'pup tent' he was making in the sheet over his body when he groaned. Both of them yelped and jumped back, away from the table, knocking into the real dead body on the other table, causing it to fall to the floor.

"You weren't laughing while you were bitching about hating to work on living people." Jane teased.

"It's funny after the fact." Maura said. "Now that the tension has passed."

"And you've stopped freaking out about using all those mad M.D skills you spent a butt load of years getting on something who was still breathing." Jane teased just as their food arrived, which meant Maura wouldn't snap back a tease of her own because it would have been rude in front of an outsider.

The two of them talked, laughed and relaxed while eating their burgers, Maura stealing Jane's fries because she'd ordered onion rings, and sharing sips of their milkshakes since one had gotten chocolate and the other strawberry. Maura had been a big help on the case they just closed and that always left her feeling really good. There was always this look of pride in Jane's eyes when she helped crack a tough case that for Maura was sweeter than the best Swiss chocolates and the sweetest of French wines. It was there now in those big brown eyes and Maura couldn't help but smile. For the last couple of weeks Maura had known something was weighting on Jane's mind but somehow she knew it wasn't something bad so she hadn't pushed, and now Jane seemed much more relaxed and the easiness between them was back. Whatever it had been Jane must have worked it out because sitting there face to face in their booth in their place everything just felt right with the world.

"Maura." Jane said softly as she pulled something from her pocket.

"Yes Jane?" Maura replied as she set her wine glass down on the now empty table. The remnants of their finished meals had been clearly away, their milkshakes replaced by more adult beverages, leaving nothing between them but the table, an amber bottle and stemmed glass.

Until Jane set the antique wooden ring box she'd been carrying around for weeks on the table between them. "Marry me, Maura."

Bright hazel eyes widened as Maura's hand flew up to cover her gasping mouth as Jane opened the little box that her gaze had locked onto just moments ago. Had she heard what she'd just thought she'd head? Was she seeing what she thought she was seeing? Was this really happening or was she dreaming? Everything around them stopped; in this moment only she and Jane existed. Her heart raced and her mind worked overtime to make sense of it all. She had never doubted that she and Jane would be together in some fashion for the rest of their lives, as best friends, and then as lovers, and then as partners, but never once had it crossed Maura's mind that Jane would want to marry her. Jane had always sworn she'd never marry, and Maura had never had reason to question that conviction. Which made this moment, this realization even sweeter. Jane, who never wanted to take the kind of risks marriage came with, wanted to marry her.

"Maura." Jane said nervously, panic rising inside her with each ticking second Maura just sat there staring at her and the ring. Had she called it wrong? Had she taken a risk and lost? "Maura, say something."

"Yes." Maura squeaked out.

"What?" Jane said, her own eyes going a little wide, her heart pounding so loudly in her chest she was sure people outside the bar could hear it.

"Yes." Maura repeated. "Yes, Jane. I will marry you."

Jane jumped to her feet, slamming her hip into the table so hard it would bruise later, but she didn't care. She pulled Maura from the booth and kissed her hard right there in the Dirty Robber. When the kiss came to an end because they needed air and because the sound of cheering and cat calls and wolf whistles from the other patrons finally sunk in, Jane looked into Maura's eyes. "You said yes right? You said you'd marry me? I didn't just daydream that?"

Maura laughed. "Yes Jane. I really said I would marry you."

"Good." Jane replied as she snatched up the little box, pulled out the ring, and slipped it onto Maura's finger. "We'll need to get that sized. Nonna had cubby fingers."

That night while they lay naked and entangled in bed Maura looked at the ring on her finger with tears in her eyes. She'd be so use to being alone. How many times had she said that to Jane, to Angela, to Tommy whenever they tired to get just a little closer to her? "I'm use to being alone. I'll be alright." And now here she was wearing Jane's grandmother's ring, Angela's mother. She wasn't alone anymore; she was a part of this loud, busy, snoopy, wonderful family that had somehow managed to even suck in her own parents. Maura wasn't sure she could ever handle being alone ever again after this.

"Gramps worked three jobs to save up the money to buy that." Jane said softly, her deep gravely voice brushing away the silence that had filled their room. "Everyone knew they would get married, they'd been in love for ages, but he wouldn't ask her until he could do it right. He found that in a pawn shop and he just knew it was meant for her. He asked the owner to hold it for him and the old man did, for almost two years, because even with three jobs he was still helping out his family. They'd gone for a walk on Easter Sunday between mass and Easter dinner, and settled in on the steps of the church to eat the Easter cookies he'd swiped from his mother's kitchen. After the cookies were gone he asked her to marry him right there on the steps of the church. They were married six months later in the same church and were together the rest of their lives. Nonna died two days before the first anniversary of his death."

"Oh Jane." Maura said softly, her voice laced with the tears that were flowing freely over her cheeks. "Are you sure you want me to have this? It's your grandmother's ring. She'd meant for you to wear it."

"When she gave the ring to Ma to give to me that's what she wanted me to have." Jane said, her voice cracking a little. "Not the ring so much as the happiness that's tied to it, the happiness and love she had with Gramps. You're where that happiness for me is, Maura, so the ring belongs on your finger."

Maura had seen rings worth ten times what this one was worth, even worn a few, but this ring, this ring was the most beautiful, the most priceless ring in all the world. "I'll treasure it, Jane, always. It's safe with me I promise."

"I know." Jane said with a smile.

"I love you Jane." Maura said before leaning close to kiss her fiancée.

Jane smiled against Maura's lips at the end of the kiss and whispered, "I love you too."


	14. Chapter 14

Engagement announcements sent. At least that was one thing off the ever-growing list of things to do for their wedding. Maura had known planning even a simple wedding wouldn't be easy. There was just so many things to decided and do, and then there was the added wrinkle of her and Jane being so different. She wouldn't go as far as saying Jane would be happy taking an hour off and going to city hall, she knew Jane wanted more then that, but she also knew that Jane didn't want some grand spectacle. Maura didn't want big and flashy either, she wanted something simple and beautiful, something that reflected Jane and herself. Of course that meant finding a lot of middle ground because she and Jane simply had different tastes and different ideas of simple. Sitting at her desk on a Saturday afternoon while Jane was taking a required training class, Maura was looking over venues on her laptop while My Fair Wedding played on the television across the room.

Maura was making notes on the possible venues to talk to Jane about when there was a knock on the door. Getting up she turned off the television and then walked over to the door, her thoughts still turning over the idea she had about finding a church for the ceremony. She wasn't very religious herself but she knew that the Rizzolis were and that it would mean a lot to Angela if she and Jane were married in a church, even if it wasn't a catholic church. Pulling open the door Maura was more then a little surprised to find her mother standing there. "Mom?"

"Hello my darling." Constance said with a bright smile.

It was hard for Maura to see her mother using a cane but she understood that even though her hip fracture was healed it was still weak and a little fragile, so she needed the cane for support and to keep as much weight and pressure of her hip as possible. When Constance wrapped her arms around Maura in a hug Maura couldn't help but smile. "This is a wonderful surprise." Maura said as she returned the hug. "How are you feeling?"

"My daughter is getting married to the person she's madly in love with and who loves her just as much in return." Constance said brightly. "I'm feeling fabulous."

Maura couldn't help but beam proudly as she and her mother moved towards the sofa. "I'm so happy to hear that, but you know that isn't what I meant."

"I'm doing well Maura." Constance reassured her little girl. She knew that Maura worried, that she hadn't stopped worrying about her since the accident. "I'm much better darling. There's still some stiffness in my hip but I've been doing very well with my physically therapy. So you can stop worrying about me. You have more important things to worry about now. Tell me about what you and Jane have planned so far and what I can do to help."

The first thing Maura did was show her mother the ring Jane had given her. She told her about Jane's grandparents, and how much she wanted to give something to Jane, something with just as much meaning, but Jane wasn't much for wearing jewelry, and that on the job she'd only be allowed to wear a wedding band anyway. Constance thought about that for bit and decided that she might be able to help Maura out. As Maura continued to explain things Constance finally said, "Let me call Daniel. You and Jane can still choose everything you want but he'll put it all together. Trust me sweetheart it'll be much easier with a planner."

Maura thought about it for a moment. This would be a lot easier with a wedding planner. "I'll talk to Jane about it." She answered. "But you're right it would be easier and Daniel does throw the most amazing parties."

Around four thirty Angela walked in so she could start making dinner and was thrilled to see Constance. Maura used her phone to record their mothers talking about the wedding and sent it to Jane with the message 'Mom wants to hire her party planner or we could just let them do it' Moments later Jane's reply came back, 'get the planner I'm not dealing with weeks of them clucking like hens!'

"What's so funny Maura?" Constance asked when her daughter suddenly started to giggle.

"Just something Jane said." Maura said as she put her phone away and joined Angela in the kitchen to help make dinner. "We can go ahead and hire Daniel."

Having Constance there, getting to spend time with her and having her involved in something so special meant the world to Maura. She would be forever grateful to Jane for giving Constance the push she needed to fix things between them. It meant a lot to Constance too so she sent an email to her husband and then to her jeweler in London. In a couple of days Maura would have that something special to give to Jane.

A couple of days later Maura was sitting at a table with Jane in one of their favorite harbor side restaurants to meet with the wedding planner. She could tell that Jane was a little uncomfortable with this, Jane wasn't the party planner kind of girl, so Maura did her best to reassure Jane that they would still be planning things, Daniel would just be doing the actual work. "This isn't going to be like one of those shows on cable, Jane."

"It better not." Jane replied. "I'd hate to have to shoot your mother's friend."

Maura refrained from saying Daniel wasn't so much a friend as he was freelance employee. She didn't want to make Jane feel any more awkward. The whole point of this lunch was to be relaxed, to be themselves so Daniel could get to know them, which would help him help them. When he arrived things were a little stressed at first but then he and Jane found a common interest in, surprisingly enough, fire arms. By the end of the afternoon Daniel had a pretty good idea what Maura and Jane were like and was eager to help them plan their perfect day.

Of course there were still disagreements and little fights about this and that but the biggest issue was the guest list. Deep down Jane knew Maura meant well, that she was trying to help, maybe even trying to repay her for helping things along with her own parents, but Jane wasn't ready to let this go so easily.

Walking onto the scene of their latest murder case Jane could see that Maura was already there and sighed. They'd barely said two words to each other since Jane blew up at Maura last night. They'd slept in their bed, but as far apart as they could get, and they were both so tensed up neither got a good night sleep, which added to their fowl moods. When Jane got up this morning Maura was already out of the house. Jane sighed again and then shook it off as she stepped up to the body, Korsak, Frost and her fiancée. She gave the boys a nod and addressed Maura with a crisp, "Doctor Isles."

"Detective Rizzoli." Maura replied without looking up from her examination of the body. If Jane was going to be pissy about this then so was she.

Korsak looked between the two and shook his head. "Are you two fighting?"

"Yes." Maura said.

"No." Jane said at the same time.

The two women looked up at each other and glared. The tension between them made Korsak and Frost both a little uncomfortable and Jane sighed. "She sent an engagement announcement to my Pop and she won't take him off the guest list."

"He's your father Jane." Maura said once again looking up from the body. "If he decides not to come that's his choice. At least we extended the olive branch."

Jane huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "If he comes, which he won't, he'll end up bringing his pregnant bimbo."

"Jane." Maura scolded. "That child will be your half sibling."

Jane's body shuddered and shimmied like she was shaking off something nasty. "That's just so wrong." She said with another shudder. "It's just to freaking weird to think I'm going to have a sibling who's going to be a little older but still roughly around the age our kids will be. That's just all kinds of messed up." Three sets of eyes, two smirks, and a very surprised but radiant smile greeted Jane when she opened her eyes and looked at Korsak, Frost and Maura. "What? What did I say?"

The three shared a look before Korsak said, "Nothing Jane."

"Seriously what did I say?" Jane asked. The look on Maura's face had gone from angry to adoringly sweet in a spilt second and Jane wanted to know what she'd said that seemed to suddenly make everything ok between them.

Before anyone could answer her Frankie called out that he'd found shell casings while another uniform called out that he'd found a blood trail. Jane gave them all one last look before she and Frost went to look at the area where Frankie was, and Korsak went to look at the blood trail with Maura. The case kept them busy but not to busy that Maura couldn't pause a moment to think about what Jane had said, which caused a small smile to appear, which got her a few odd looks because she was in the middle of an autopsy.

When Maura got home that evening her mother was waiting on her. "How was your day darling?" Constance asked as she poured them each a glass of wine after Maura came back after taking a shower.

"Long." Maura said with a soft sigh as she accepted the glass. She told her mother what she could about the new case while they settled in on the sofa. Then she told her mother about the fight she had with Jane.

"She's still hurting, Maura." Constance said gently. "And not asking him to the wedding is her way of punishing him. Just give her a little time to sooth out her ruffled feathers." After they talked a little more, when she saw that Maura was much more relaxed then she was when she came home, Constance pulled out the package that arrived that morning. "Do you remember when I arrived and you said you wanted to give Jane something that meant as much to you as the ring she gave you meant to her?"

Maura nodded.

Constance smiled as she opened the box to show Maura a very simple circular pendant with a single modest but still stunning diamond. "I had Niles use gold from your grandfather's wedding band and the diamond is from mine."

"Oh Mom, it's beautiful, it's perfect." Maura said with a soft gasp.

"I'm so glad you approve." Constance said with a loving smile. Then she reached out and held her daughter's face in her hands. "Oh darling. I'm just so delighted to see you so happy. I want the most wonderful things for you and Jane."

Maura's smiled was radiant as she leaned into her mother's touch. "Thank you, Mom."

Later that night after their mothers had retreated to the guesthouse Maura and Jane were sitting quietly on the sofa, their fight over Frank Sr. still lingering between them. While Jane watched the Red Sox game her gaze shifted between the t.v and Maura, who was reading over a medical journal, though neither were really paying attention to their activities. Finally Jane picked up the remote and muted the t.v before turning to look at Maura. "I'm sorry I was an ass. I guess this whole rotten mess with my Pop is bothering me for then I thought and I took it out on you."

"I forgive you, Jane." Maura said as she set her book aside. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line by sending him the announcement. I'll take his name off the guest list if you really want me too, but honestly sweetheart, I don't think you want me too."

"I guess I don't." Jane said after thinking about it for a moment. "I can't really be angry with you for meddling." She added with a shrug. "Getting married means we share everything, even the parts of our lives that are kinda of crappy, and it means we get to meddle. I am your business after all, and you're mine, and I know you were only trying to help. Besides, I can't really fault you when I pretty much threatened your mother about hurting you when I first met her." Jane snorted. "That was a hell of a first impression to make on my future mother in law."

Maura smiled a small and hopeful smile. "Are we done fighting now, Jane?"

Jane chuckled as she nodded her head. "Yes Maura, we're done fighting now."

"Good!" Maura said as she jumped to her feet to get the jewelry box from her desk drawer. "I have something for you."

"You bought me a present because we were fighting?" Jane asked, looking a little confused.

Maura shook her head as she retook her seat on the sofa. "I didn't buy it. My mother had this made after I told her I wish I had something to give you that would hold the same meaning as my ring."

"Maura." Jane said gently as she took the blonde's free hand. "I told you that you didn't have to give me a ring in return. I wouldn't be able to wear anything more then a wedding band anyway."

"I know." Maura said. "I explained that to Mom and she came up with a compromise." Maura opened the box to reveal the circle of gold and the nestled diamond. It looked as if someone had flatted an engagement ring, which is exactly what Constance wanted it to appear as, a ring Jane could still wear only not on her finger. "The gold loop use to be my grandfather's wedding band. Mom had it melted down and reshaped. The diamond is from Mom's first engagement ring, Dad gave her a new wedding set for their fortieth anniversary. When I was a little girl I remember sitting with my Mom and twisting the ring around her finger. I thought it was so pretty." There was a very sweet smile on Maura's face and it made Jane's heart skip. "The chain looks delicate so it won't stand out but it's very strong, it won't be easy to break, and it's small, not clunky, so you can wear it under your shirts."

There were tears in Jane's dark eyes that made them glimmer. "I love it, Maura." She said softly as she wrapped her hands around Maura's, which were trembling every so slightly. "It's absolutely perfect." She leaned in and kissed Maura, a deep loving kiss that said more then words ever could. When she pulled away she said, "Put it on for me?"

Hazel eyes bright with tears and the light from Maura's mile blinked at the slight burn from the salty secretion as Maura gave a little nod and then removed the necklace from it's box. With Jane holding up her hair Maura put the chain around her neck and fastened the clasp, which had a security link, making it harder to loose.

Once it was on Jane reached up and gently caressed the pendant between her fingers. Then she reached out and pulled Maura close, pressing her lips to those of her lover's, expressing what she felt this way more clearly then she ever could in words alone. Maura was the one good with words, Jane was all about physical expression, and despite the difference the two communicated almost perfectly.

It wasn't a big surprise when Jane got the email from her Pop saying he didn't want any part of this and reminding her that this was all wrong. It hurt; it hurt like hell. When she was a little girl and still had thoughts about her wedding she'd always seen it with her Pop walking her down the aisle, but now that wasn't going to be happening. So, yeah, it hurt, but it didn't hurt so much that it effected just how happy she was. It didn't take the silly sappy smile off her face or change the way her heart fluttered every time she saw Maura. Her Pop's problems were his own and he could work them out or not, there was nothing she could do, so she didn't fixate on it. She had better things to do like planning her wedding and deciding where to go on her honeymoon.

"Italy." Maura said suddenly without looking up from the stomach she was dissecting.

"Excuse me what?" Jane said, looking a little thrown by Maura's sudden shift in topics. Two minutes ago she'd been detailing what the poor guy on the table had for his last meal and now she was spitting out random names of countries?

Maura looked up and explained, "For our honeymoon. We should take a tour of Italy. I've always wanted too and I know you have too."

Jane smirked at that. "Really? What part?"

"All of it." Maura replied with the brightest grin.

Two cars pulled into the parking lot of an old catholic church that had been closed by the former Archbishop of Boston. Jane and Maura got out of one and their mothers out of the other. A tall man with blonde hair and very pale blue eyes walked over to them with a smile. "Ahh my brides and their mums are here, good, good, right on time ladies." Daniel said with a bright smile, his voice heavily accented by his Scottish-ness. "Come on then lets have a look inside."

Angela was smiling from ear to ear. "Oh Janie it's Scared Heart."

"Several years ago the Boston Dioceses closed several churches, selling off quite a few in order to pay out law suit settlements." Maura explained as they walked up the steps to the small yet beautiful old church.

Daniel nodded. "This one is now a Unitarian Universalist congregation."

Maura quickly stepped back in because she was the explainer of all things and wouldn't be shown up by their wedding planner. "Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion that focuses on individual theology. There are roots in Christianity but the church does not stick to the rigid dogma of most organized churches, and they also encompass and welcome theology from other religions, both monotheist and polytheist beliefs."

"Basically they're totally cool with same-sex marriage and the minster is a former priest who like many of his congregation were forced out of the church due to their unwillingness to modernize." Daniel added as they stepped into the church. "Given Jane's religious background and Maura's wishes to honors those, this place it simply perfect."

It was a beautiful old church with brilliant stain glass windows, dark stained pews, high ceilings, and the original hand crafted alter piece. The holy water basin was still by the door, the art was still there, and the confessionals still in place, very little had been changed when its new worshipers moved in. "It's beautiful." Angela said with a soft sigh and bright smile.

Constance nodded. "It's lovely."

"Brides?" Daniel said; the single word asking whither Jane and Maura liked the place.

"It's great." Jane admitted. "But will you be comfortable getting married here Maura? I mean you're not religious or anything."

Constance raised an eyebrow. "Maura may not be practicing anymore but she is Protestant."

Maura looked a little sheepish. "I really am a WASP."

"No one here will hold that against you Doctor Isles." An older gentleman with brown, slightly graying hair said with a warm smile as he approached.

"Jane, Maura, Mums, this is Father George Reiner." Daniel introduced. "Father, these are my brides. Detective Jane Rizzoli and Doctor Maura Isles and their mothers, Angela and Constance."

Father George smiled and welcomed everyone before showing them around. He talked to them, got to know them a bit, and after Jane and Maura agreed that this is where they wanted their wedding, he said he'd like to meet with them a few more times before the wedding. They agreed, and booked the date. Jane and Maura were feeling pretty giddy now that they had a place and a date. It would be up to Daniel to find a reception venue to book for the same date but they knew he could do it. Of course Maura's meticulous research, like it had with finding the perfect church, would help greatly.

Standing outside in the parking lot Daniel handed Jane and Maura each a small packet.

"What's this?" Jane asked as she opened it up and looked inside.

"Train tickets, hotel reservations, and a card with the name and address of the wedding bouquet I'll be meeting you at in New York." Daniel said with a charming smile.

"Oh." Angela cooed as she raised her hand to her chest dreamily. "I've always wanted to take the train to New York."

Jane gave Maura a look but Maura was smiling and chatting to her mother with such a happy look on her beautiful face that Jane didn't have the heart to bitch about a four-hour train ride and unexpected weekend trip to New York City. Between Maura and her mother there was no way Jane was going to dampen this whole bridal trip for them even if she would be giving up a free weekend.

The four hour train ride gave the four time to work on planning the honeymoon, a full on tour of Italy, that Jane was a little uncomfortable with simply because Constance insisted on paying for it all. Angela and Jane were contributing to the wedding and reception, but the Isles were more then willing to shell out huge amounts of money on everything and it was just a little unsettling for Jane. Having a best friend with money was one thing; Jane had to get use to the fact that she was marrying into money now.

"Jane." Maura said softly while their mothers were off to restroom. "Are you alright with all of this?"

"I'm adjusting." Jane said honestly and then leaned over and kissed Maura's cheek. "I'll be fine, Maur. Don't worry ok?"

"I can ask Mom to wheel it in." Maura offered.

Jane chuckled. "Rein it in, Maura, but that's ok, you don't have too. How can I say no when she's making a dream come true? I've always wanted to see Italy."

Maura gave her love a warm and loving smile. "It'll be wonderful."

"Yes it will." Jane agreed. "Even the part were Ma joins us on our Honeymoon in Rome."

The blonde chuckled. "Just for a few days. She wants to visit the Vatican."

"You need to stop being so lovey with my Ma." Jane teased. "It's annoying and makes it harder for me to be snippy."

When they arrived in New York they checked into the W Times Square hotel. Constance and Angela got their own rooms, which simply floored Angela. She was in awe of the modern yet warm feel of the room the overlooked Times Square and was taking way to many pictures to show her friends back home. Jane and Maura got one of the small suites with a voyeur shower that Jane couldn't wait for Maura to use. After having dinner together in the hotel restaurant the mothers went up to their rooms while Jane and Maura ventured out to explore a little and have some time alone.

The next day Maura and Constance found themselves at RK Bridal while Jane and Angela went out to explore the city. Three gowns in and Maura put one on that when she looked at herself in the mirrors it brought tears to her eyes. When Constance saw this she simply said, "That's the one my darling. You're stunning."

After picking out Constance's dress and going through fittings the two headed off for lunch and an afternoon at the spa while Jane and Angela took their turn at RK. Of course finding a dress for Jane was harder then it had been with Maura. Maura loved clothes, she loved fashion, and she loved getting all dolled up to look stunning and fabulous. Jane still wanted to know why everyone kept telling her no, really loudly, when she asked if she could just wear her formal uniform. "It's your wedding Janie not a funeral!" Angela had said more then once.

Jane tried on five dresses before they decided to take a break and work on finding one for Angela. Daniel kept the color choices for Angela close to what Constance picked out but the style was more suited to Angela.

Jane smiled as she looked at her mother. Stepping up behind her Jane have her a hug as she rested her chin on Angela's shoulder. "You're beautiful Ma."

"Thank you Janie." Angela rasped softly.

That evening Jane and Angela were late getting to dinner with Maura and Constance because it had taken forever for Jane to pick a dress. The one she finally picked, when she put it on, it made her gasped. It was simple, beautiful, and just made Jane shine. With their dressed picked out they took their turn at the spa so Daniel's prep team could work out hair and make-up. After all that Jane was a little grumpy when they finally made it to dinner, but quickly cheered up when Maura said she'd gotten them tickets to the Yankee/Red Sox game the next day.

The train ride back let them finish off honeymoon plans so that was taken care of. With a much shorter list then Maura had given him to start with, Daniel took them to check out some reception venues. Everything was coming together, except Jane wouldn't get to walk down the aisle with her father. Maura had offered to forego that part, she said they could just go alone or with their mothers, but Jane didn't want to deprive Maura of walking with her dad. She and Constance had been able to do so much together already, that was going to be her moment with her father. That's when Frankie stepped in. He was the oldest son and he would be honored to walk his sister down the aisle.

Everything was coming together and Maura and Jane were both ecstatic about the whole thing, but they were also feeling a little overwhelmed so the weekend before the wedding they fled from Boston, spending three days alone and cut off from the outside world in Martha's Vineyard. Their lives were about to change for the better. The risks they'd each taken were about to pay off.


	15. Chapter 15

It was morning, the sun was up, she could feel it on her skin, but as Jane slowly made her way to consciousness she realized something wasn't right. The bed didn't feel right, the mattress was smaller and lumpy; the sheets weren't as soft and the light blanket not as cuddly. Then she realized that the body beside her was not Maura's, the hand playing with her hair was not Maura's. Jane's dark eyes flew open as she bolted slightly onto her elbows. She looked around the room and then instantly felt like a dork. She was in her apartment, in her bed… wait, with her mother?

"Ma!" Jane groaned as she turned to look at the grinning like an idiot older woman beside her. "I said you could stay the night with me if you slept on the couch."

"My little girl is getting married today." Angela said, still smiling, though her voice was laced with tears.

"Ma." Jane said in a much soft voice. "Please don't start cryin' already. I haven't even peed yet. It's to damn early for this shit."

"Language Jane!" Angela scolded.

Jane flopped back down onto the bed and covered her face with her pillow, which by the way didn't smell like lavender the way Maura's pillows smelled. Whose dumb idea was it for them to spend the night away from each other again? Oh, right, their mothers. Jane groaned again and thrashed the bed.

"Oh now you're just being ridiculous." Angela said as she got out of bed and headed for the bedroom door.

Jane's pillow muffled reply was, "Go away Ma!"

In the quiet of her room with her pillow still pressed to her face Jane couldn't keep the smile off her face. She was getting married today. She was getting married to Maura today. Jane hadn't ever thought this day would come, she'd sworn off marriage her whole adult life, and then all those years ago without her knowing it that choice slowly began to change. All those years ago when some snobby, prissy, little blonde put on a latex glove to had her twenty dollars because she was dressed like a hooker, Jane had no idea that that prissy little blonde would end up becoming her best friend, the love of her life, and in a few hours her wife.

Tossing the pillow aside Jane reached for her cell phone to send Maura a text. 'I know you're awake. Are you awake?'

A minute later Maura's reply came back, 'Good morning Jane. Yes, I'm awake.'

Jane smiled as she sat up, her back pressed against her headboard. 'It's really disturbing to wake up next to my Ma when I'm use to waking up next to you.'

'You didn't really expect her to sleep on the sofa did you?' Maura replied. Jane could practically hear her chuckling softly. 'You're sofa is horribly uncomfortable, Jane.'

'She could have been in her own bed if they hadn't insisted on this whole spending the night apart thing.' Jane sent back. 'What are you up too?'

The apartment was quickly filling with the smells of breakfast and it was making Jane's stomach rumble as she waited on Maura's reply which was, 'Having breakfast with my parents at the county club before heading over to the spa. You?'

'Ma's cooking. I'm still in bed.' Jane said and then with an evil smirk she sent, 'Wanna know what I'm wearing in bed?'

'Gray Boston PD athletic t-shirt, black cotton bike shorts, white socks.' Maura sent back.

Jane laughed and shook her head. 'You suck at what are your wearing.'

"Janie!" Angela called out from the kitchen. "Breakfast!"

Jane was smiling so brightly the sun would have been jealous. 'Gotta go eat. See you soon. I love you.'

'I Love you too, Jane.' Maura sent back.

Jane's stomach followed her nose to the kitchen just in time to see her Ma smack Tommy's hand with a spatula. "That's your sister's stuffed waffle!"

"Aww, Ma!" Tommy whined. "I'm hungry!"

Angela pointed her spatula at both her boys. "Today is Janie's day. I won't have either of you spoiling it so be on your best behavior."

"It's gonna get cold by the time she comes out." Tommy pointed out.

"No it won't." Jane said as she walked over and pushed Frankie off the bar stool so she could sit. Once she was comfortable she pulled her plate over and smiled. "Strawberry and cream cheese stuffed waffles and bacon? You're the best Ma!"

"Hey!" Frankie gripped when Jane took most of the bacon. "You eat all that and you're not gonna fit in your dress."

Angela made a noise in the back of her throat as she glared at her middle child.

While the Rizzolis were settling in for a loud boisterous family breakfast at Jane's apartment, the Isles family were finishing their quiet breakfast on the patio of Maura' country club. Her father had come in from Europe a couple of days ago after finishing up the semester at the university he was currently teaching at. Maura and her mother liked to joke that Edward Isles' favorite time of year is the end the full academic year when he gets to sit on graduate student's review committees because he likes to terrorize unsuspecting masters and doctoral students who up until that point just think he's a kind and understanding professor. Edward teases back that he rather enjoys the look of shock that flickers across his students' faces when he begins to interrogate them on their work, picking apart their theories, and making them defend their conclusions.

It was wonderful spending so much time with her parents. Maura hadn't stopped smiling since her normally reserved father had given her a hug at the airport when she and Jane picked him up. Maura knew that part of her mother's desire to reconnect with her had come after she and Jane had had words, but she wondered if perhaps her father's renewed interest in her life was due to suddenly feeling as if there were a bit of a threat to his fatherhood. It wasn't such a far-fetched idea. Maura had noticed that her father become even more attentive after he'd found out about her contact with Patrick. At first she hadn't put much thought into it but then she noticed the same behavior in her mother after telling her about her run in with Hope. Maura hoped that her parents knew that she loved them and would never ever choose Patrick and Hope over them.

After breakfast Maura and Constance headed over to the spa for a bit of pampering before Maura had her nails and hair done. Maura was hoping that while they were there she'd get a chance to see Jane, but Daniel had the timing set perfectly so the two women never overlapped.

"Maura put that away." Constance scolded when Maura went for her phone yet again. "You'll see Jane soon enough."

Maura had the good manners to look sheepish. "Sorry Mom."

Constance just smiled gently and shook her head at her daughter. "I want you to enjoy and saver every moment of today darling. Today is one of those days that you'll want to remember always, much more so then almost anything else. More then any other day you've had so far and you've had several very special days, graduating from college and medical school will dim in compassion to this day."

"Almost anything else?" Maura asked softly. "What could be better then my wedding day?"

"The day you hold your child in your arms." Constance said honestly as she cupped her daughter's face in her hands and then pressed a kiss to her forehead.

When they arrived at the church several hours later Constance's sister Dorothy was waiting on them. The woman who Maura had turned to so many times when her mother was unavailable wrapped her arms around Maura and hugged her tight. "I just can't believe it Constance, I refuse. Our little moppet is getting married!"

Maura was blushing over all the attention. One of Daniel's assistants brought in champagne for them along with a beautiful floral arrangement. As Maura walked over to check the card she was laughing at a story her aunt was telling about their older brother, Albert, who'd tried to pick a fight with her father at her parents wedding reception. Uncle Albert had never been thrilled with his little sister marrying an American, even if Edward was wealthy and cultured, he was still a damn bloody yank.

"Poor Albert was so drunk he ended up missing Edward and giving the Vicar a black eye!" Dorothy said with a bark of laughter. Dorothy was the polar opposite of her younger sister in just about every way, which is why she and Jane had hit it off so easily when she and Maura had been in London. Even Constance had been chuckling over the story but both women stopped when they noticed Maura had gone still and quiet. Constance got up to see what had suddenly changed her daughter's mood, stepping up behind Maura. "Maura?"

"The flowers." Maura said softly, timidly, almost afraid to say whom they were from in fear it might hurt her mother's feelings.

"Who are they from my darling?" Constance asked as she put her hands on Maura's upper arms to reassure her.

Maura took a moment and then said softly, "Hope Todd."

Constance read the card over Maura's shoulder; it was just a simple best wishes on your marriage. "Well wasn't that kind of her. You'll have to send her a thank you note darling."

Maura turned to look at her mother and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't expect her to send anything. I didn't even know she knew. We didn't send anything to her or Patrick. Not that we would have known where to send anything to Patrick, his whereabouts are still unknown, though Detective-Sergeant Korsak thinks he might have fled to Ireland…"

"Maura." Constance said softly at first and then a little more sharply just to get her daughter to stop rambling. "Maura!" When those beautiful hazel eyes finally looked into her own Constance smiled softly. "It's alright darling. I don't have a problem with Hope wishing you well. I hold nothing against her. I wouldn't have you if not for her, but I'm you're mother, you are my daughter, and nothing nor no one will every change that. Alright?"

"Alright." Maura said with a soft smile and a nod.

Dorothy chuckled softly and shook her head. "She gets that from you Connie."

"Oh hush Dottie no one was talking to you." Constance replied with a teasing smile.

Maura was a little shocked with the ease between her mother and aunt. The more her family interacted with Jane's the more they acted like a normal less starched family. When her mother wasn't looking Maura sent Jane a text, 'My mother and my aunt are acting like you and Frankie. It's so weird!'

"Maura!" Constance scolded. "Give me that bloody phone young lady!"

Jane laughed so hard at the text that it caused her head to jerk which caused the hair stylist to pull on a good chunk of her hair. "Ow!"

"Sit still Janie!" Angela ordered and then heaved a heavy sigh, the kind of sigh that could only come from an Italian-American mother with a daughter like Jane Clementine Rizzoli. "I bet Constance isn't having this much trouble with Maura. Now give me that damn thing so you can get your nails done."

Jane pouted when her mother took her phone away. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Not until after." Angela said as she stuffed the device into her purse.

"Not until after what?" Jane asked.

"Everything." Angela answered and then gave Jane that look that said she dared her to argue because she wasn't too old to get her behind smacked.

Jane glared back for all of five seconds before dissolving into a pouting five year old. When she felt another series of bobby pins going into her hair she groaned. "I'm going to be picking bobby pins out of my hair for the rest of my life."

"A nice long life with Maura and lots of babies." Angela said with a huge smile.

"Ma." Jane groaned. "Geesh."

Since Maura was in the bride's room at the church that left Jane with the groom's room. One of Daniel's assistants helped her into her dress while another was helping Angela. After the assistant was finished Jane stood in front of the full-length mirror taking herself in. Her dress was a new take on the old a-line style with a plunging v-neck and hand beading at the bust line that really drew focus to her breasts. There was draping in the bodice that melted easily into the skirt and was nicely pulled together at the hip with a brooch. A chapel length train and functional corset finished off the dress. Jane had wondered how true the functional part would be but as she turned and twisted to look at herself she realized it was true. She had no problems moving in the beautiful white gown. It was stunning and Jane had to admit that with her dark hair pulled up, her slightly tanned skin glowing as backdrop to the white satin she looked amazing.

"Oh Janie." Angela breathed out in a hushed, reverent whisper. "You're so beautiful."

Angela was in a charcoal and silver tea length silky taffeta dress with a ruffled jacket. The necklace she had on matched the accent piece on the waist of the dress, and her hair was done up in a French twist. Her hair and make-up had been professionally done, and so had her nails. Jane smiled as her eyes stung with welling tears. "So are you Ma."

It took them both several moments to fan away their tears so they wouldn't ruin their make up and swallow the lumps in their throats. "I have some things for you." Angela said as she moved closer to her daughter. "Something old, something new, something barrowed and something blue."

"Something barrowed." Angela said as she pulled a beautiful Rosary with oval hematite beads from a velvet pouch.

"Ma." Jane said, breathless. "That's your Rosary, the one your great-grandfather sent to from Italy for your first communion. It's been blessed by a Pope!"

Angela nodded as she carefully laced the beads around Jane's hand. "Guess we could use it for something old too." She said with a teary chuckle. "I held these during all the big moments of your life, Janie. This time I want you to hold them."

All Jane could do was nod and then throw her arms around her mother in a crushing a hug.

After Angela covered something old and blue they had to wait for the something new. The something new came from Constance who gasped softly as she beamed brightly at the sight of Jane. "You look absolutely stunning my dear." Her soon to be mother in law said before presenting Jane with a beautiful jewelry set of necklace, earrings and bracelet all with small diamonds and done in white gold. The jewelry was in Jane's taste, meaning very simple and tasteful, and the pieces looked amazing on her, but Jane was fairly sure the set cost as much as a new car or small house or something. She thanked Constance with teary eyes and then grumbled at both women about making her all girly and bitched about having to get her make-up touched up.

Down the hall Maura was getting her own gifts. "That was the tie I wore the day I married your mother." Edward said as he watched Maura rub the blue silk handkerchief he'd just given her between her fingers. "Since you're mother is letting you wear her silver south sea pearls I thought this would be some of me you could carry with you."

"It's perfect Dad." Maura said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When she felt his arms go around her Maura sighed and actually snuggled close. She couldn't remember the last time she'd snuggled close to her father but she was starting to realize she'd missed it.

A new silver charm bracelet with a little silver good luck horse shoe which her aunt said was a British tradition, a bride always carried a hidden horse shoe on her person on her wedding day, her mother's borrowed pearls, her father's blue tie turned hanky, and her something old was the strip of Angela's wedding gown, which had also been used as Jane's little christening hat, and then a hanky for her to carry during first communion, was now wrapped around the stem of Maura's bouquet. Maura was ready, or at least she thought so.

"One last thing." Dorothy said as she fished something out of her pocketbook. "Give me your shoe moppet."

"My shoe?" Maura asked as she looked at her mother questioningly.

Constance laughed. "Just do it darling."

Maura shrugged and handed over her shoe. She watched as her aunt took a sixpence coin and dropped it into her shoe before handing it back. Constance chuckled at the look on her daughter's face.

Dorothy shook her head and chuckle. "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in her shoe."

"The horse shoe is for good luck." Constance explained to her daughter. "The sixpence wards off evil. It's silly superstition but tradition nonetheless."

"Lords often gave their brides a sixpence as a wedding gift and it was also used in dowries." Dorothy continued, knowing how much her niece loved little facts like that.

Finally Maura smiled while slipping her shoe back on. "Thank you." She said softly. "For everything."

"You are most welcome my darling." Constance said with a huge beaming smile.

Now all she had to do was wait and as she did so Maura turned to get one last look at herself in the mirror. Her gown was a slim line gown with a dipped neckline and corset closure. It was white Point d'Esprit and embellished lace, hand beaded with Swarovski crystals, a satin bow in silver gray with a brooch at the empire waist, and matching tulle shoulder wrap in the same silver gray as the bow that attached to the satin. It was classic and romantic and Maura looked astonishing in it.

Stepping up behind her daughter Constance couldn't help but smile. Her gown had a vintage look with its luxe taffeta strapless bodice, full-length skirt, and matching jacket in black and mica. The dress helped to accentuate what Maura was wearing perfectly. "I know I should have said this to you more while you were growing up." The elder Isles said as she looked into her daughter's hazel eyes through the mirror. "But I'm going to make up for not saying it then by telling you more now. I love you Maura and I am so proud, so blessed to be your mother."

Maura didn't know what to say. She simply turned and wrapped her arms around her mother and held her just as tightly as Constance was holding her. "I love you too." She finally whispered back. "I'm really glad I got to be your daughter."

"So am I my darling." Constance whispered. "So am I."

As the music began to play everyone in the church, which was done up in whites, creams, grays and silvers, stood and watched as two sets of doors off to the sides were opened. There had been a long debate over who would walk down the aisle first, who would be the one who got to stand at the alter and watch the other come down next, and in the end it was decided that since both Jane and Maura wanted to see the other coming towards them that they would forego the center aisle as an entrance and come into the church from the front side aisles. This way they got to see each other as they walked towards the center aisle and then take the three steps up to the alter together.

As soon as the doors swung open and Jane saw Maura on the other side of the room she gasped and whispered to Frankie, who looked handsome and sharp in his black tux with the tie and vest the same brown from their Ma's dress, "She's so beautiful."

Across the aisle standing in the other set of doors with her father Maura beamed brighter then the sun, moon, and all the stars as she said, "Look at her Dad. Isn't she stunning."

The music played as the brides walked towards each other on the arms of their escorts. It was all either of them could do not to disrupt the flow by stopping to give each other a long, slow, kiss when they finally met at the top of the center aisle. They whispered softly to each other how beautiful they were as they joined their hands and then turned to step up to the alter together.

Father George smiled as he began, "Welcome family and friend to this beautiful celebration of love as we bare witness to the joining of these two women as they pledge their love and lives to each other. Who here gives these women to be married?"

From their places in the front rows Constance and Angela stood and said in unison, "We do."

"Jane and Maura." Father George continued. "Today you are surrounded by your friends and family, all of whom have gathered here to witness your marriage and to share in the joy of this special occasion. Today as you join yourselves in marriage, there is a vast unknown future stretching out before you. The possibilities and potentials of your married life are great; and now falls upon your shoulders the task of choosing your values and making real your dreams. Through your commitment to each other, may you grow and nurture a love that makes both of you better people, a love that continues to give you great joy, and also a passion for living that provides you with energy and patience to face the responsibilities of life."

Both Jane and Maura zoned out on what else was said, some readings that they had each picked, and was solely focused on each other in that moment. As they looked into each other eyes, grasping each other's hands, more was said in that moment then would be said during the whole ceremony. Thiers's was a love built on friendship, respect, desire, two totally different women whose unlikely friendship brought them unconditional love and support, and a light that lead them both out of the dark.

When Jane heard her name she finally stepped out of the bubble she and Maura had been in together and looked at Father George who'd said something about vows. Then she looked back at Maura, taking both of Maura's hands in her own and began, "I Jane, promise you, Maura, that I will be your wife from this day forward, to be faithful and honest in every way, to honor the faith and trust you place in me, to love and respect you in your successes and in your failures, to make you laugh and to be there when you cry, to care for you in sickness and in health, to softly kiss you when you are hurting, and to be your companion and your friend, on this journey that was make together." They'd written the vows together and would say the same thing except for one single line. "I also promise that you will never be or feel alone again."

It took a moment for Maura to recover form how beautiful Jane's words were even though she knew what Jane would say, and especially from her promise that she wouldn't be alone anymore. It didn't help that Jane reached up to brush at the tear on her cheek. Finally after several quiet and meaningful moments Maura said, "I Maura, promise you, Jane, that I will be your wife from this day forward, to be faithful and honest in every way, to honor the faith and trust you place in me, to love and respect you in your successes and in your failures, to make you laugh and to be there when you cry, to care for you in sickness and in health, to softly kiss you when you are hurting, and to be your companion and your friend, on this journey that was make together." She paused, smiled, and then added, "I also promise that I will always have your back."

There were very few dry eyes as Father George asked for the rings, which Tommy walked up to him. Even Korsak and Frost were misty eyed. Father George blessed the rings and then handed Maura's to Jane.

As Jane slipped the platinum band onto Maura's finger she said, "I give you this ring, as I give to you all that I am, and accept from you all that you are."

Maura took Jane's ring from Father George and slipped it onto Jane's finger. "I give you this ring, as I give to you all that I am, and accept from you all that you are."

The ceremony ended with Jane and Maura sharing communion and lighting a unity candle. Then Father George pronounced them married, their kiss made their family and friends cheer, and they were introduced for the first time as Jane and Maura Rizzoli-Isles. The people they loved cheered as they walked down the aisle together, following them with words of congratulations and happy tears. Jane and Maura both gasped in surprise at the sight that greeted them when the doors of the church were opened.

Starting at the top of the stairs going all the way down to the sidewalk were two lines of dress uniformed Boston Police officers from their unit and a few extra forming an honor guard arch. Jane and Maura walked through the tunnel of colleagues and friends who were alternating between saluting and holding up their batons, with beaming smiles and joyous tears.

The reception was at one of Boston's most luxurious hotels with the actual party in the grand ballroom and the cocktail hour in one of the smaller but still stunning party rooms. Both rooms were on the top floor and looked out over Boston, with most of the grand ballroom being nothing but floor to ceiling windows. While their guests gathered for drinks, and after a ton of pictures were taken, Jane and Maura were whisked away by Daniel's assistants to change into their after ceremony dresses, which were shorter, more flowing, perfect for each woman's personal style, and fun, they were true party dresses, but they were still elegant and beautiful. Their make up was touched up and their hair styles let down to match the more playful dresses and once their guests had been moved into the ballroom they met up at the main doors to be introduced. This time when Jane saw Maura, how breathtakingly stunning she was she didn't hesitate in pulling her close and giving her a kiss.

"You're stunning Mrs. Rizzoli." Jane whispered which caused Maura to blush. Oh Jane liked that, she liked making Maura blush like that and she was going to do it as much as possible from now on.

"So are you Mrs. Isles." Maura replied with a smile so bright it put the gleaming lights of Boston to shame.

The ballroom was done up in blues, silvers, golds, and other colors that accented the spectacular backdrop of the city. When the doors opened and they were once again introduced and Jane and Maura Rizzoli-Isles they stepped into the room to the sound of cheering and wolf whistles. They were hugged and kissed by their mothers, Maura's father, Jane's brothers and even Korsak and Frost. Everyone who was close to them, who knew them and loved them, were on cloud nine to see them together like this. They all knew and understood that Jane and Maura could, would, and have gone through all the ups and downs two people can go through and they have and will always come out stronger together for it.

Dinner was had, toasts and speeches made. Jane's making Maura cry and Maura's getting that soft, touching smile Jane only smiled for her. Angela was a blubbering mess by the end of it all. Then Jane and Maura made their way to the dance floor for their first dance, which had been a debate for weeks when it came to which song. The debate came to an end one late night when they'd both been to tired to sleep so that decided to see what was playing on late night cable. They'd come across an old movie and by the end of it they'd both known what song to use. As Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's waist, Maura's arms going around Jane's neck, the live band started playing Everything I Do I Do It For You. In that moment only the two of them existed. As they looked into each other's eyes and moved to the music, the words of the song playing through their minds, everyone around them melted away and it was just them. As the song began to wind down they came back to the present knowing that people would soon be joining them and that made them both smirk because as their song ended the live band let the D.J. take over and suddenly the slow romantic early nineties ballad was replaced by Kelly Clarkson explaining that My World Would Suck Without You.

Jane threw her head back and laughed as romantic first dance waltzing Maura was suddenly replaced with club bopping Maura. The party was on now and went late into the night. When Jane and Maura finally made it up to the honeymoon suite it was well after two a.m. Needless to say they didn't get any sleep before their eleven a.m. flight out of Logan, though they'd spent hours in bed. They would fly into Naples, then up to Rome where Angela and Constance would meet them for a couple of days, and then onto Florence, Tuscany, San Marion and Ravenna, Venice and finally Milan. Just the two of them, for the most part, in a beautiful romantic country with personal meaning, it was the perfect way to start of this new part of their lives.

It was absolute proof that taking a risk on each other was well worth it.

"Jane." Maura said softly as they sat on the plane.

"Hmm?" Jane replied with her eyes closed, her hand laced with her wife's, a small smile on her lips because now Maura was her wife.

"I'm really glad I took a risk on telling you I was in love with you." Maura said with such sincerity it made Jane opened her eyes and look over at her.

Jane sat up and leaned over to kiss Maura softly. "I'm really glad you did too."

The End

Continued in the Squeal:

Well Worth Taken


End file.
